Featured How to (carefully/professionally) clean ormolu

Hi everyone,

Today I have a question about how to clean ormolu.

There are several things I need to determine first;
1) How do you recognize if something is ormolu, which is fire-gilded?
I know there are some other gilding methods, like leaf gold or painting.
Don't know if there are more.. But I'm quite sure this is ormolu.

2) The loss of the gold, is it dirt or damage?


Anyway,
I have bought this beautiful opaline casket, made by Baccarat.
It was made in France, in the first half of the 19th century,
around 1840. It has 7 glass paste medaillons, and is richly
decorated with gilded bronze.

(It might be possible that the bigger pieces are bronze, and the thinner metal is brass)


On the pictures you can see that there are spots on the lid (where the handles are mounted) where the ormolu is still in tact.

I have read a post on here where they suggested parrafin oil I believe.
I'm not sure what that would be in dutch.


Thank you!!
(The brighter pictures are made under lighting.)

 

I heard ammoniac (alcali) mixed in water applied with a brush will give it back its shine!

 

Gorgeous, R.

Simpelweg parafine.
Great for cleaning, not sure you get the gold sheen back though.

 

Hi, yes I have tried ammonia on another piece to test. Although didn't dilute it with water. I did work very fast, but only on some spots. So it didn't turn out well. It's now a mix of new looking an very dirty spots.

 

Bedankt voor uw reactie.

The thing I didn't mention..
There was a difference between parrafin oil and parrafin oil for human consumption.

 

Graag gedaan.

Yes, there is a difference.

 

with parrafin oil you'd only get brown spots on it - at best.
with such a wonderful item I'd start with the most harmless - pure woolen cloth without artificial fibers.
then lukewarm soapwater with immediate pressurized air drying.
if ammonia solution then I'd buy a pre-mixed 5 to 10 % solution at the apothecary's and try it out on the backside or bottom to see the effect first.

 

You have such an exquisite taste! The piece is just beyond beautiful!

 

Thanks for the tip!
So I won't use paraffin oil then. Unfortunately I don't have a pressure dryer.
I came across another method online; saying they put the metal pieces in boiling water for then minutes, then washed it with soap and a toothbrush.
Now I won't be trying that with anything of value

 

You could try using a hairdryer set at a low heat setting.

 

Yes, that might be a good idea.

Your nickname... reminds me of something I saw yesterday.
Might be a little off-topic, but I came across this glass.
It says it's a Baccarat piece, but I believe it's a Bercy glass.
I just want to know if I'm right. No intention is buying it.

https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/a...0059/lot-fb9606af-2fe8-4670-b01a-ada300eb25d3

 

I have absolutely not a clue.

Mu user ID came about because back in 1998 when I was first starting to use computers for personal use I collected Boyds bears & Swarovski crystal. So when it came time to pick a user ID I thought bearcrystal would be good on eBay. Of course, that one was taken & I wasn't smart enough to just add some numbers or letters after it so I ended up eliminating the "a" in bear.

 

I wonder a bit about this question. when you don't find a similar model it's nigh to impossible to define the difference except the two places of the "cristalleries".
furthermore "Dr." Fischer - who hasn't a title these days, it's Habsburg again - is constantly asking high prices without giving any explanations in his descriptions.

 

Oh I see I've read it too quick... I thought it said BercyCrystal

 

Yes, that's true. But I have seen some similar pieces before. With the exact same flowers. Maybe a different shape of glass or cut.

And I thought Dr. Fischer was quite 'highly regarded'.
I used the website's database before, and I must say their descriptions do often refer to makers, or Bohemian regions for example.

 

I'd use a Sunshine cloth. SOft brush first.

 

good for you then.
after receiving their catalogues unasked for over 5 years for free I bid them to stop sending them.

 

That is so beautiful! Even if you leave it as is, it is lovely.