Katy Dickinson

Tarnishing Sterling

During the Christmas break, I tarnished my silver. Some I tarnished the usual slow way, by using my sterling flatware in holiday table settings. However, I also experimented with fast tarnishing using liver of sulphur.

Why do this? A few years ago, I bought some extra forks on eBay. Some of what I bought had been stripped. That is, not only the tarnish had been removed but the original oxidized finish was also gone. Buttercup by Gorham has a deep and complex flower and leaf pattern. It is one of the most popular sterling patterns ever and has been available since 1899. The result of stripping was an unpleasant flat white color, particularly in the grooves and floral details molded into the surface of the metal. Some people like silver without oxidization or patina. Having used these stripped forks for several years, I decided I like the depth of the original dark contrast better.

Here is a photo of three of my forks. The handle of the fork on the top shows the maker's original oxidized finish with an attractive patina. The fork on the bottom has been completely stripped. The color of the fork in the middle is the result of my recent experiments with sulfur. The difference in color is very clear in person but seems more subtle when photographed. (This photo was the best of a dozen attempts to show the color range.)

3 Gorham Buttercup forks with degrees of tarnish

I tarnished my sterling by adding one teaspoon of livers of sulfur yellow liquid to one cup of water. I soaked each clean fork in the solution for a minute and then let the solution dry on the fork. (I used a tall glass bud vase so that the fork was submerged in the liquid.) The silver darkens as the solution dries. Once the silver was as dark as I wanted, I held the fork under running water then cleaned away the tarnish I did not want with paste silver polish on a soft sponge. The result is not perfect - the tarnish color is brownish and not as dark as the original oxidation - but it is much better than the stripped look.

Tarnishing silver with sulfur requires care not to damage the piece. Sulfur also smells very bad (like rotten eggs or a fart), so work with good ventilation. If you want to know more about silver, here are some resources:

• A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of Vertu by Giorgio Busetto
• Shining Brightly: Silver Care and Display by Pamela Wiggins, About.com: Antiques
• Sterling silver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Tips for Collecting Silver by Pamela Wiggins, About.com: Antiques
• Using Liver of Sulfur 12/29/2004, by Thomas of AllExperts

Image Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson

Posted at 03:11PM Jan 03, 2008 by katysblog in News & Reviews  |  Comments[1]