Greetings, all!

Today I stumbled across a treasure for a song. In a store similar to a Goodwill, I found a matching vanity set with brushes, combs, mirrors, etc.

As I know nothing about antiques, I was hoping someone might know a bit about these and how to clean them up / care for them.

All the pieces are what I believe silver, with a tarnish on them. The mirror is very heavy, though the mirror itself is what has me stumped when trying to determine the set's age.

Rather than the traditional reflective silver on glass, this looks like glass with an extremely thin sheet of silver 'paper' if you will, behind it. If it were not for the crumpled effect due to what I believe could have been caused by moisture, it would be a cloudy but otherwise good mirror reflection.

This set was in a box of other items I purchased such as books from the 1800's with ink well writing. There was even a lettering tip case in the box.

The hair items are in wonderful condition! The bristles on the brushes are a gentle white bristle, though not boar.

I can find absolutely no identifying marks, logos, etc.

As I can't imagine soaking these items in soap, could someone suggest a cleaning method? Though I don't intend to use these items for hair care, it would be nice to run them through my hair to imagine life as it was over one hundred + years ago, if in fact these items were from the same period as the books.

 Karen Marie

Maybe you could use a baby wipe for the brushes? what a cool find. I wonder how many people passed it over before you came along thinking it wasnt much.

One way to clean silver without harsh chemicals is the following:

1. Line a large glass baking dish with aluminum foil
2. Lay the items in the foil lined dish
3. Cover the exposed silver with baking soda
4. Fill the dish with boiling water
5. When done, rinse with clean water and towel dry

I've had great success with this method with many silver items, though I don't think the mirror would be a good candidate for this since additional moisture could get behind the glass.  But then, since this item won't be coming in contact with your hair, perhaps a standard polish on the silver parts would work fine.

This sounds like a fabulous find -- can you post some pictures?

I've had luck with a quick toothpaste scrub, and have heard that jeweler's rouge is good too. And when you're unsure, best go with mild soap and warm water. Congratulations on your hidden treasures!

Anais

edited for clarity

Great find!

Perhaps you should hear about the cleaning with an antiques expert, sometimes antiques diminishes in value if one cleans too harshly. In the swedish version of "The antiques roadshow" they often say that the "patina" (I don´t know if that´s the right word in english, but you know, the "wear and tear" of an object) actually increases an objects value, as well as a written accord of the objects history (like who owned it and where). So be careful.