Antique Silverplate Trophy Repair & Restoration

Antique silverplate hunting trophy with the dogs broken off
dogs soldered repaired on antique hunting trophy
original 19th century catalog drawing of hunting trophy

19th-century Antique Silverplate hunting Trophy

This phenomenal 19th-century antique silver plate hunting trophy arrived with the dogs broken off. The dogs are barely attached with only two paws balancing each dog on the sides of the base. The dogs were very carefully soldered on but it is still very fragile because of the way they are attached.
You can see the dogs soldered back onto the base and the original catalog illustration of the hunting trophy. Note that this cost $136. dollars in the catalog which is approximately $4,250 in today’s dollars.

antique silverplate trophy broken and base painted chipped and worn
antique silverplate trophy restored, polished and base repainted

Antique Silverplate Trophy with Base

This antique silverplate trophy arrived broken and missing a part. The owner did not realize a part was missing because the trophy was previously repaired badly with a mishmash of epoxy, glue, putty, and pitch along with 20th-century trophy parts.  It took hours and hours to remove all the various types of glue and previous attempts at repair. I did the best possible job to polish the remaining silverplating. The base was also repainted. The final result is a remarkable improvement.

Repair of antique or vintage trophies is outside of the skill for do-it-yourself, or a trophy shop. Glue never works on metal. The best thing about glue is the advertising. Period! Don't use glue to repair antique or vintage trophies.  

Silverplated trophy with broken handles, lid, broken finial
SilverPlate-trophy-repaired-straightened.jpg

Repair 100-YEAR-OLD ANTIQUE SILVERPLATE TROPHY CUP

This 100-year-old silverplate trophy cup arrived very badly damaged. The handles were completely ripped off leaving gaping holes in the body of the cup. When the handles broke off they also damaged the top edge where the handles are attached. A 1/2" piece in the rim of the cup was missing. 

The trophy cup was also crushed in half and bent over on the stem so badly it wouldn't even stand up for the photo. (I had to start straightening it up just to take a picture.) The lid was also crushed in badly and the finial on the lid was broken off.

The trophy was a family heirloom. The customer wanted to keep it looking like it had "character." My goal was to repair the cup, handles, and lid without replating. It was a lot of work but it looks fabulous!

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