Friday, February 3, 2012

All polished up

Two weeks ago, I shared some photos of a "new" vintage teapot I had acquired, a small piece that came from the Halle Bros. Tea Room in Cleveland, Ohio. I had debated whether or not I should try polishing the "pewter" looking surface, and I was interested to hear what you readers had to say. Some, like me, were inclined to leave it as-is. Others said they like their silver all polished up and would give it a try. I was content to leave it be for about a week but then curiosity got the better of me, so I decided I would indeed give it a whirl with some Wright's Silver Cream, and if it didn't clean up evenly I would just let it tarnish again naturally.

I must say I'm pretty impressed with the cleanup this silver cream provides! I love the graceful lines of this teapot. It's so small, though, I wondered exactly how much tea it could even have served to a customer in that tea room. So I measured, and it holds 11 ounces (even though it says "8 oz." on the bottom). That's about right for two cups of tea.

Even the hallmark on the bottom shows up better now that the piece is polished! (And please ignore the blue tint from that lady with the camera!)

13 comments:

  1. Hi Angela
    Don't know if I replied to that post or not, but I'm one of the shiny silver gals. The tea pot looks fantastic and yet has still retained it's age old personality.
    I once visited a friend who had inherited the family farm and silver tea set. It was as black as coal and a shame really because cleaned up it could boast of all the use it had.
    Judith

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  2. Your vintage teapot did clean up very nicely.

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  3. Now it looks like someone loves it!

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  4. Love the transformation! I didn't realize it was an individual pot until I noticed the size when compared to the silver polish jar. What a real treasure!

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  5. OH! It really did polish up nicely-and still has that rustic feel to it....well done!

    I guess bringing a tiny pot for two cups kept the cost down, and ensured guests had a very nice hot cuppa......could always (and surely did) bring more out! Made it less heavy and weary-inducing lugging pots all day, though that one, tiny though it may be looks heavy. Looks sure to keep things hot.

    Glad it cleaned up so nicely.

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  6. That is just beautiful. How many reacups will have been filled from that teapot.
    Have a nice weekend

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  7. She looks like a gal showing off her new dress. Just imagine, they must have had carts of these all steaming up.

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  8. What a wonderful acquisition to your department store collection. The teapot went to live with just the right person!

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  9. It is beautiful! Now I am happy you did it. I love seeing it bright and shiny.

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  10. Your teapot looks beautiful!
    Great job, Joanie

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