I picked up two little Staffordshire Dogs at a sale this weekend. Honestly, I almost didn’t get them because of how filthy they were. I started cleaning the one on the right, and then thought I should take a picture to see the before and after shots.
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This is another of the many things I did this weekend. I had a great old candlestick which had lost all of its silver-plate. I didn’t want to have it re-plated because it’s a but wobbly and as a finished piece, it wouldn’t be worth it. So I got a can of black gloss spray-paint and re-imagined the piece.
It’s actually in four parts, so I took them all apart and gave them a number of light coats of paint, turning after each coat to make sure all parts were covered. I think it turned out pretty well! If I do this again, I might take a rough sponge to the piece before I spray it to give the paint something to grip.
How was your weekend?
I had a similar experience with a dark forest-green planter that was so evenly grimy, I thought that was the base color, but when I scrubbed it, it turned out to be more of a light-green-turquoise color.
ReplyDeletePerhaps your statuettes were in a house that had a coal-burning fireplace or furnace, which could also deposit layers of filthy residue like this. A lot of Chinese pieces acquire this kind of heavy 'patina' when they are placed near altars that burn incense--another reason to be careful when gaging the age of Asian or other antiques.
--Road to Parnassus
Not a lot of coal-burning stoves or fireplaces here. It smelled like tobacco smoke when i cleaned it. I guess it's all just patina!
DeleteMagic eraser? Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBe careful with it! It can take the finish off a piece.
DeleteGood Job!!! I love the dogs and like what you did with that old candelabra!!!
ReplyDeletePretty happy about the way the candelabra turned out!
DeleteGlad you came to the rescue of those little doggies. I've been in homes where the walls were coated with the same "tobacco glaze". Can't imagine living like that.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty sure there were more, just couldn't find them!
DeleteI bought a cheap but pretty oil painting at auction on the internet. When I got it, it REAKED of cigarette smoke. I didn't want to pay to have it cleaned so I hit it with some windex-gasp!-but the nicotine just dripped right off it. And it was beautiful. I sold it and made a nice profit. Amen.
ReplyDeleteMakes me ill to think of a house with that much smoke in it!
DeleteMeg great job!! Love the little Staffordshire dogs they turned out so lovely and I adore the candlestick!!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
2013 Designer Series
Was quite pleased about the way everything turned out!
DeleteI am intrigued that you think the items were in unglazed. Perhaps you are suggesting these were items from the 40's or 50's when the ceramic craze in full swing ; with shops selling bisque pieces ready to add detail with glazes, to then fire in the kiln once again???. The detail of the pieces suggest it was probably from a mold. perhaps the glaze was a matte finish. If the pieces were unglazed i would think the nastiness would have been absorbed by the bisque stage of the piece as it, I do believe "absorbs" the glaze to be fired. Honestly, or a wax resist could have aided in your cleaning. I find this simply intriguing I would be eager for a ceramics expert to weigh in.
ReplyDeleteUnglazed in that they didn't have a shiny, glazed finish on them. That they were matte, flat, seemingly porous. They had been fired, but not glazed. Perhaps only painted, although the paint didn't come off when I scrubbed them with a brush and the magic eraser.
DeleteHi Meg. Love the candelabra project. Next time, use ""metal" paint or automobile paint and you won't need to worry about the surface. The candelabra is now what I call the perfect black!!
ReplyDeleteHave a super week.
Mary
Mary... i used paint marked for metal surfaces, but it might have been multi-purpose.
DeleteGreat job on doggies + candelabra + happy new week. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGreat job on all! One suggestion: When cleaning anything porcelain, always try an overnight soak in warm water with OxyClean. I know, I know, it's supposed to be for laundry... but trust me - the stuff even removes baked-on lasagna from pyrex baking dishes! One overnight soak and you can wipe the baked-on stuff off with a paper towel. It works wonders on anything ceramic/porcelain/glass.
ReplyDeleteHaha! I guess you missed it when I gave the OxyClean hint a few weeks ago!
DeleteSpeaking of tips...the back card of my Colgador de Plato or Plate hanger --for hairline cracks in plates, put the plate in a pan of milk and boil for 45 minutes. the crack should disappear. really!! has anyone heard of this "trick?"
ReplyDeleteBan leaf blowers. Weekly use is misuse--contributes to topsoil erosion. Go ravens.
ReplyDeleteoh I love the dogs , I don't know why in the last couple years I always am drawn to them in any antique shop or blog where ever I am
ReplyDeleteglad you didn't ruin they cleaning them so harshly, the oxiclean soap sound great for anything
I am going to try the milk boil tonight for one of my flo blue plates