We all know Benham & Froud and the fabulous copper cookware and jelly moulds they made, but the company was known for everything from world famous beetle traps to repairing Winston Churchill’s heating radiators! They made or supplied windows, furniture, refrigerators, boilers, Chinese gongs, roofs, and weather vanes.
We all know Benham & Froud and the fabulous copper cookware and jelly moulds they made, but the company was known for much more.
We all know Benham & Froud and the fabulous copper cookware and jelly moulds they made, but the company was known for much more.
The health of these instruments could be damaged by handling and playing. An alarming statement but true never-the-less.
Traditionally country antique dealers stocked a good selection of brass and copper articles. In London alone there are shops given over almost exclusively to them. And yet at present, unless an article can be proved to be of earlier date than 1600 it is unlikely to have very great value. So you could start collecting brass and copper now quite easily and perhaps your heirs will ultimately reap the benefit.
By using old technology, eco unfriendly metal polish and equally old fashioned cleaning methods, your candlestick may end up looking like this. Why, because the metal polish you use probably contains ammonia or anhydrous as the liquid component and eventually this will be the result. Too many antique metal items are being defaced and destroyed by ignorance and down right cussedness. pH Neutral eco friendly metal polishes are available but people are reluctant to change from their good old traditional methods and metal polish that are both time consuming and expensive. Not convinced, then read further.
Gusums Bruk is a Swedish company with a long and problematic history. Nowadays Gusum Work’s traditions are living thanks to “Nordic Brass Gusum AB”, which continues to produce brass.
Most people choose not to polish a piece, based on the amount of work involved. Modern environment friendly metal polishes reduce re -polishing to a minimum and thus the amount of work involved. 
William Shakespeare once wrote “To be or not to be, that is the question”. Alas we cannot improve upon Billy the Bard's quotation, but we have to ask the question To polish or not to polish, that is the question?