#1353 Keris

[kai]

Hello Jose,

Unlike bronze, they were meant to be cleaned.

I beg to differ: bronze on ethnographic pieces was most certainly meant to sparkle, too!

Actually, decent bronze is much easier to keep shiny than silver. Early bronze was originally utilized for jewellery (obviously as a replacement for gold) and only later for tools.

I'd also assume that even brass was meant to be polished. However, I do agree that it is fairly futile to keep this alloy shiny - even with gentle cleaning most ethnographic pieces will loose too much metal for long-term preservation.

Regards,
Kai