jacon4,, While gilding will wear off I did not think it would tarnish
I would agree with that, gilded brass should not tarnish which i would think is the primary reason to gild it to start with, our problem is, we do not even know if the brass was gilded for sure or how it was originally done. For all we know, they put a coat of varnish on the brass to keep it's luster. Another thing is, this is most likely american brass as opposed to english, prior to the revolutionary war, almost all brass furniture hardware in the colonies was english, after the war, american.
Regarding the second photo below, is it not odd that the mounts were put in place before staining? Mahogany, right?
The apron/base looks like mahogany to me but the column looks like poplar, another indication the cab is american. They probably stained the poplar to match the mahogany cabinet. Is it odd? I dont think so no, it was built by hand and finished that way as well, any stain that got on the mounts could have easily been wiped off.