Hello, how to clean "JB" spelter candlestick? *PICS

[ayashe]

Hi all, I've just bought this candlestick this morning from an antique fair. After some research on the web, I've found it to be a Jennings Brothers candlestick due to the stamp JB on the bottom. It's made of spelter (something else I hadn't heard of before) which turns out to be zinc and lead mixed? Perhaps someone can correct me on this as I've only just found out this info. I am also lead to believe that this item could be silver plated but I am not sure. In any case I am unsure as to go about cleaning it. I love its marks and signs of wear so I'm not looking for perfection, just a nice clean and getting it looking spruced up again. The man I bought it from mentioned some "tackiness" on the stem, perhaps from a sticker placed there long ago. He said sometimes the stickers had glue on them that would ruin the tarnish. Does anyone have an suggestions as to remove it? It's textured and feels as if I could scrape it off with my fingernail but I'm not game to try. It's quite hard. There is also old wax embedded in the design on the very top. I have attached some photos, with flash and without, to reveal the candlestick's actual color. Thanks so much for any help and advice!   

[ironlord1963]

Thanks for the knowledge  .  I have never heard of Spelter before, so I begin to look into it and actually learned something today.  Wikipedia says it is another name for Zinc, and found reference to Nickle silver too in relation to the word "Spelter",  Nickle silver being Nickle and Zinc, so maybe when lead is added instead of Nickle you have Spelter.  I will look around a bit more.  As for cleaning the item, Most would advise Tarn-x to clean it, if one can handle the smell, with effort you will even get that nasty lable off.  Since I can't handle the smell I use a product call Mr. Metal, have to use a bit more elbow grease though.  The biggest problem you will run into it the relief design work. Cleaning this are can be pesky and hard to make look good, engraved just look better when old tarnish is inside, but raised art it  will need much extra work, half done here won't look as good as the look of the Age per say.   Since you are not so worried about wearing off plate, then a good soft toothbrush will help the task, but always soft and in circular motion.  This is just my opinion after many hours in the past few months of cleaning my metalware.  But I'm all ears to what the others will suggest here I may just learn something tomorrow  .  They are and will be very wonderful when brought to the full glory of their splender.

[KC]

I am sure that others will pipe in but here is some good information that you may find informative.  Remember that all things do not have to be cleaned!!!!  Actually, relief work/designs appear better on older items with the depth that age brings!  If you are going to keep them...then you may want to clean it up.  If you are selling...leave as is!

http://www.info4antiques.org/ARTICLEpgs/SILVER/ARTICLES/MetalwareConservation.htm  Typically has a id number with the JB but not always.

Now as for JB and Jennings Brothers....They operated from 1891 - 1950 in Bridgeport, Conn. and their hallmark looked like http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_J.html Their company’s molds were bought by Philadelphia Manufacturing Co. in the 1960s and pieces have been reproduced using the old molds - even using their initials at times.  All their pieces were made of cast white metal or spelter ... and  are often mistaken for bronze or silver - the originals are highly sought after....but PMC pieces/replicas are hard to distinguish from the originals without hands on inspection.

[ayashe]

Thanks for your advice Ironlord!  I will look for Tarn X. 

KC, I had a look at the links you posted, thank you. 

There is a #424 mark underneath the base of the candlestick (photo #6), bottom left. The JB mark is bottom right. They look like the JB Hallmarks as described. Fingers crossed mine is original!... but I still think it's charming, even if it's a replica!

[railman44]

Spelter was widly used years ago mostly as the "poor man's" bronze or base metal.  I have a commerical hotel cigar lighter indian maiden made of spelter and made to look like bronze.  It was lit via gas and someone converted it to a lamp eons ago.  Spelter is somewhat brittle so be careful.  Some beautiful artifacts were made of spelter.  Just be careful handling (don't accidently drop on a hard surface) and cleaning the object.  Always test the cleaner in a spot not seen when displayed first.  My .02 pesos.

[regularjoe2]

I'll go along with railman on the advice about spelter .

I'd suggest that you use acetone , on a small cotton ball , to 'soak' the area of the former lable 'stickum' , then wipe off dissolved glue with a white cotton cloth . It may take a few times doing this , but it's a 'no-scrub' solution to the cleaning question .
I'll also caution against using nail polish remover (with acetone as it's base) due to the fact it usually contains oils & scents & etc ... these oils will sometimes do 'things' (things that you really didn't intend to do) to items cleaned with N.P. remover .

It's also possible that the label was mucilage glue , rather than a more current type .
With this type of glue , repeated use of a small 'compress' of very hot water & a little mild detergent , then acetone treatment .

Acetone will also dissolve waxes & other organic 'stuff' .

[cogar]

Another good cleaner for some "icky" things you find on objects is, ...... and I will forewarn you iffen you use it to be durn careful in doing so because it is highly flammable so use it in an open-air place, like outside ........ and that is "lacquer thinner".

Just put a little bit of it on a soft cotton ball or cloth and gently rub the spot to be cleaned. I have also used said to "fix" scratches/crackling of the varnish/paint on furniture by gently rubbing over the affected area. It will soften up the finish and allow it to "flow back together" and will quickly reharden. But always first try it in a "test spot" first. And remember, for furniture, ..... too much is too bad.

Again, WARNING, not to be used by amateurs who are or would be careless in its use. 

I once asked an old friend of mine who painted cars what he would do iffen he spilled the 5 gal of thinner he kept for use. His reply, "I would quickly exit the door".

[ayashe]

Thanks so much for all the advice everyone. I'm going to get around to cleaning it tomorrow and will post pics. Thanks again!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I recently was doing some research and found out that our ancestors used ashes from their wood fires mixed with a little water to polish silver back in the day. I have not tried this myself, and I don't know how effective it is, but I could give it a whirl tonight on some tarnished silver. Maybe someone would know if this might be a gentler way to clean it than chemicals?

[cogar]

our ancestors used ashes from their wood fires mixed with a little water to polish silver back in the day

And those wood ashes is where one gets the lye (Caustic soda - a corrosive alkaline substance) for making lye soap.

[KC]

Yes it was used and as cogar stated it was caustic!

[regularjoe2]

Lots of method for cleaning silver , talesof .
Along with what cogar & KC said , ash is an abrasive .

The gentlest I know of is using Orvus Wa ( a vet. soap 'cow shampoo' ) .
It's available from vet & farm suppliers , as well as from commercial cleaning/janitorial suppliers .
Conservators use this , also folks in the fire-smoke-damage restoration/repair business .

Virtually every silver polish , cleaner , electro-chem , manual/machine buffing method removes silver .
Orvus Wa simply cleans it with a gentle detergent (provided that a person does not go ape with the process) , but it's repetitious & labor intensive .

On-line silver forums have a lot of yakking about polishing/cleaning methods too , such as :
925-1000.com , smpub.com , silver-collector.com  .

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks, that is good to know, I've got some old family spoons with ancestor's initials that go back as far as my great-great-grandmother. (and I'm no spring chicken at 47!)

[ayashe]

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice, here's the cleaner result!

I wasn't game enough to try the lacquer thinner or acetone and I couldn't find Tarn X. I live in a little town so went to the supermarket and bought... Brass-o! It seems to have worked well, even though I gave myself a couple of minor heart attacks when I thought I'd rubbed off the silver tarnish but it was rubbed off anyway... The sticky residue came of on its own accord, but the metal seems to have been stained by it, as you can see from the photos. Thanks again for your help, everyone. 

[cogar]

It looks beautiful.