How Barkeepers Friend Comes to the Rescue (Again)

Hey guys.. you know I’ve mentioned in this post and this post I wrote about having broken and repaired items in my home, and how I tend to not shun a good piece. Such was the case for this brass baroque crystal compote. I had it generously priced to sell for $5.00 at the estate sale because it was broken, tarnished and a bit tired looking.

I liked the piece and ever since I scored the candelabra back in 2018, I’ve been a bit smitten with baroque items, but God knows I don’t need another dish. So to not feed my fetish, I figured if I priced it low enough, someone would scoop it up. When someone would go to pick it up and realize the bowl wasn’t attached, they’d put down and say it’s broken. I encouraged a few shoppers to look beyond it and get it (even told them how to fix it and bring it back to life. I had this conversation with a shopper over it.. She said she’ll buy it and give it to me to fix and I give it back to her…(that ain’t happening).. I told her in that case I’ll buy it myself and fix it.. Then she said well I’ll pay you.. I said…sorry – I’ll charge you $30.00 for my service (keep in mind I’m giving free advice). Needless to say, she left it. I literally could not get anyone to buy it because it was broken. At the end of the estate sale, I decided to buy it from myself for myself. At $5.00 – I can’t lose.

The top bowl wasn’t attached. Here you can see how badly dusty and tarnished it was.

First thing to do was clean it.. I used a toothbrush and liquid barkeeper’s friend and went to town.

I washed the glass bowl and teardop crystals (it’s missing one crystal) and used E6000 to attach the center medallion and to attach the bowl to the brass. E6000 is some powerful stuff and can be used on practically everything that needs to be bonded. It really works on practically anything, it’s permanent and dries clear, so you really can’t tell it’s been repaired. Here’s the compote all clean and shiny again.

You can see how I glued it on the base here.

Although I love it here on the foyer antique Rococo table stand, but decided it would be more useful in my bedroom

Since I’m relinquishing my swans around the house, I opted to use this as my sunglass holder on my vanity and I really like how elegant it looks sitting here.

beautiful dish to sit on my antique vanity

Look beyond and see the possibility. And that, my friends, is how to live the lifestyle of the Thrift and Famous. Happy hunting while you thrift your house into a home. To see my other baroque candy dish from the same sale.. check out my video here CIAO!!!!!