Posts: 1
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 04-30-2008 10:43 PM            

---

Hello,

Does antique pewter's tarnish resemble silver tarnish? I've tried to search images to see. Specifically, does pewter tarnish get that "golden" hue to it also?

If not pewter, any other alloy's tarnish that way?

You expertise is greatly appreciated!

IP: Logged

Posts: 58
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 04-30-2008 11:26 PM            

---

Before I began collecting silver, I used to collect pewter. I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you talk about pewter "tarnishing." It does darken over time, true, but this is generally considered a good thing - and is quite different from silver tarnish. It does not get that "golden" hue, just darker, and it takes quite a long time to happen (i.e. years). I remember being annoyed that my pewter stayed "new" looking too long.

Some people prefer shiny polished pewter which does bear a much closer resemblence to silver, but it still does not "tarnish" the same way.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I hope it helps.

IP: Logged

Posts: 602
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 05-01-2008 09:01 AM            

---

As it is very difficult to give verbal explanations when colour and tonal values abound, let's try this. Are there museums and antique shops in your area? If yes then I would suggest stopping in and either look at examples of the two then explain to the curator or shop clerk/owner what you would like to understand. Or, in the case of museums, telephone ahead and ask them if it would be possible to speak to someone knowledgeble in those areas. I have found over the years that most people are eager to talk about and explain their area of expertise. In the case of a shop owner try buying something, even if it is a just a little bauble. Hope this helps. Remember the old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" although in this case it is 'actually seeing it'.

[This message has been edited by argentum1 (edited 05-01-2008).]

IP: Logged

Posts: 845
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 05-01-2008 11:12 AM            

---

Back in my youth I did a little smithing in pewter (cheaper than silver, and amazingly easy to work for a beginner - although I found soldering at such low temperatures to be a challenge). The modern commercial formulations of pewter, at least, can in fact take on a golden tone sometimes not unlike that which one sometimes finds as an initial stage of tarnishing on silver. It didn't always happen, but I did observe it on occasion; usually on pieces stored in a wooden drawer (walnut), I think, but I wasn't trying to source the causes at the time....

[This message has been edited by FWG (edited 05-01-2008).]

IP: Logged

Posts: 350
Registered: Dec 2006

posted 05-01-2008 02:53 PM            

---

When I turned 21, I received a wonderful, very high-quality polished pewter tea service (the maker was Dutch -- Meeuws I think). It looked like silver. Over the years, it has developed a very different finish. Not tarnish exactly. Sort of a clouded soft light gray surface (different from very old pewter). I have polished it to a fare-thee-well over the years, to no effect, using silver polish. No tarnish ever comes off on the sponge, as it would for silver. And tho' I still like the original finish (which I can see on the undersides of pieces), I don't think it can be restored without subjecting it to some sort of buffing. So I live with it (as if this were a hardship!) -- it's actually nicely suited to informal uses, like morning coffee.

IP: Logged

Posts: 2132
Registered: Nov 2002

posted 05-03-2008 12:49 AM            

---

Usually I tell the difference by the weight of the piece. Silver is lighter than pewter, other than Swedish pewter. Silverplate can be trickier as sometimes it is on pewter. Beyond that read the mark. Swedish pewter is usually made in Eskiltuna.

Polishing pewter is something I have never done. Numerous collectors have told me that they run theirs thru the dishwasher with a gel not a powder. Works for me. One idea that has sabotaged, IMHO, the concept of silver more than anything is the constant crusading by some conniseurs against dishwashering. They have managed to give the strong impression that only people who employ both a scullerymaid and and underscullerymaid should use silver on a daily basis. Dishwashers are here to stay: live with it.

IP: Logged

Posts: 798
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 05-03-2008 11:22 AM            

---

I can't add anything on pewter, but I agree with Dale about dishwashers. The silver we have in use goes through the dishwasher, apart from knives with loaded handles where I fear the heat would loosen the blades.

IP: Logged

Posts: 1970
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-03-2008 01:23 PM            

---

Isn't there some rule about not putting it through the dishwasher with steel because of some chemical reaction? Or is that a myth (or mismemory)?

I'm afraid to put silverware through our dishwasher because we have the kind with a basket for flatware, so the pieces would jostle and scratch each other. I wash it all by hand. This means I'm the household dishwasher.

IP: Logged

Posts: 798
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 05-04-2008 11:24 AM            

---

I thought it was that steel and silver should not be in contact so I put any steel items in a separate compartment of the flatware basket. I don't think our silver suffers any more than it would from hand-washing, but that might be a reflection on my clumsiness or carelessness (the washing up is my small contribution to the household chores).

IP: Logged

Posts: 1265
Registered: May 99

posted 05-15-2008 08:45 AM            

---

Pewter, historically, was considered "poor man's silver." When new, it was bright and silvery, and was intended to be that way. Pewter becomes grayer and grayer (fading to black, depending on the climate) over time, if not polished. I recall, to my horror, my professor at Yale, Charles Montgomery, getting all of his students to sit in his house and polish his pewter with (pause for effect) steel wool and Brasso. Yikes. It did give it a nice soft shine.

The Newark Museum purchased a bunch of modern pewter in the 1920s, both American and Scandinavian (Swedish and Danish), and when new it looked bright and shiny like silver. In fact there was one piece I for years thought was silver, with a nice hammered surface like a Georg Jensen piece. Because it was boxed (and had been for fifty years), it still retains its nice silvery shine.

IP: Logged

Posts: 350
Registered: Dec 2006

posted 05-15-2008 09:39 PM            

---

Ulysses--do you have any recommendations on how to polish pewter? My early 1970s high-polish pewter is getting grayer and cloudier and I've polished it many times over the years with silver polish to no effect. I'm reluctant to try the steel wool and Brasso system. Maybe just Brasso? Do you think there's a chance the high-polish look will come back?

(Of course, high-polish pewter had appeal to young women in the 70s who believed it would never need polishing.)

IP: Logged

Posts: 1265
Registered: May 99

posted 05-16-2008 06:02 PM            

---

I haven't a clue how to polish pewter...I assume that, like silver, the surface oxidation is a chemical reaction...but I've never used a specific pewter polish (is one manufactured?). We have not cleaned any of the 1920s pewter we have, because it's still fairly shiny (lack of use). But I don't know what to say about the 197os stuff that's going gray.

IP: Logged

All times are ET