Anyone for a spot of tea?

[cx500]

I'm with Firelock.  What I see is tarnish, and as long as it cleans up easily, the shiny silver plate will provide the most appropriate finish.  Now, other aspects of patina such as minor scratches, wear marks or minor deformation would be part of its history and probably should not be removed.

I also came across a CPR teapot, of a different shape, and in rather poor shape.  I found it when turning over my vegetable patch, of all places, some 30 years ago.  I had recently moved into the house, which was built some 70 years earlier.  Dented and bent with some of the silver plate flaking off, it has spent the past decades lurking in a box somewhere in the basement.  I imagine it is well beyond economic restoration but have never actually thrown it out.  The patina is just plain ugly and inappropriate for any normal history of such a piece.

John

[Firelock76]

Tree86, if your company's 1932 Sanford is in operable condition but shows it's age and battle scars proudly then there's nothing wrong with keeping it in what's called a "state of preservation."   It won't win any beauty prizes at any musters but all who know just what they're looking at will appreciate it for what it is.

Lady Firestorm found a 1940 Seagrave that formerly belonged to her father's fire company that had deteriorated to junk status, so that one got a frame-up restoration.  Maybe she'll tell the story if all ask her nicely.

I can't find a picture of it online, but it's out of this particular vintage of Seagraves, and darn near a dead-ringer for the third one down.

http://www.geocities.ws/seagrave_book/seagrave7.html

cx500, your teapot sounds like a good case for a restoration.  Nothing wrong with taking it to a place that specializes in the same and having the dents removed and getting it replated, but of course you have to make the call on that one.

[tree68]

Firelock76

Tree86, if your company's 1932 Sanford is in operable condition but shows it's age and battle scars proudly then there's nothing wrong with keeping it in what's called a "state of preservation."   It won't win any beauty prizes at any musters but all who know just what they're looking at will appreciate it for what it is.

We just had the engine gone through, and pumped with it, until the fan bearing gave up the ghost.  We weren't aware it wasn't lubricating properly.  A new bushing was secured, and she's running again.  I got the task of teaching others how to pump with it - interesting to do so for a piece of equipment that entered service 18 years before I was born...