Kiddush Cup Repair & Restoration
Antique sterling silver kiddush Cup
This is a very unique Kiddush cup. The (possibly stamped) chased and repoussé make the sterling silver very thin and delicate. It was apparent from the bent stem and dings and dents in the base (see before photos) that this had been dropped a number of times. I was able to carefully improve the dents and dings in the base, and polish it to return this family heirloom back to the owner in time for her son’s wedding.
Sterling silver kiddush cup Before and after repair
This Kiddush cup arrived with a sharp crease in the side and top edge. What made the repair even more difficult was that I could not touch the pattern on the outside of the cup. All the work to reshape the cup has to be done on the inside of the cup, very carefully, and very slowly. The rolled edge is hollow and presents additional challenges when a cup is damaged like this. It turned out great!
Sterling silver kiddush cups with turquoise stones
The stem and base of this sterling silver kiddush cup arrived with deep twisted wrinkles and dents in the stem, base, and cup. This can happen if the cup is dropped or twisted when polishing especially because the silver of this cup was very thin. In the photo on the left, I marked the number of dents in the cup. This was in addition to the problems in the stem and base. The turquoise stones added a serious concern. I had to be very careful.
Two sterling silver kiddush cups with leaks repaired and Polished
Leaks are very time consuming repair. Each time I think that I have repaired and sealed the leak, I pour in boiling hot water and test to see if it is water tight. It is not uncommon that if there is one leak there are more leaks. If a cup leaks even a tear of water over five minutes it is not water tight. New sterling silver is more likely to leak because it is stamped or spun from very thin metal. Older Kiddush cups leak from decades of polishing and wear. The leaks in both these cups were repaired successfully.
Old Silver Kiddush Cup from Poland or Russia (Before and after repair)
This old silver Kiddush cup was stepped on during a robbery and folded in half. This is pretty devastating damage Getting it back to normal and fixing the rolled edge was a challenging restoration. It came out very well.
KIDDISH CUP REPAIRED AFTER GARBAGE DISPOSAL DAMAGE
This sterling silver Kiddush Cup arrived for repair after it was chewed up very badly in the garbage disposal. The photo (left) doesn't begin to show the extent of the damage because I started working on the cup before thinking that it should be photographed. It was so chewed up that part of the edge was actually missing. It also was folded over on itself, the top edge was ripped and torn in two places. There were also several holes along with severe gouges, dings, and damage to the chased and repoussé design on the side.
Frankly, I didn't even want to repair this cup but it held great sentimental value for the customer. Neither the customer nor I were sure that anything could be done to restore the kiddish cup. For this situation, the customer and I agreed to work on it incrementally, investing a moderate amount of money each time, and evaluating the next step. I would work on the cup and document the improvement. Each time the customer agreed to spend more money as this Kiddish Cup was restored. While not perfect, it is water tight, and back to it's original shape.
Kiddush Cup with a broken stem had gold plated interior
A broken stem on a Kiddush cup has two possible approaches for repair. In this case, I took the most conservative approach to preserve the gold-plated interior. If you look closely (right photo,) you can see a sterling silver ring right under the cup. This sterling silver ring helps strengthens and conceal the repair as the stem had torn irregularly torn where it was attached to the cup.
After the repair, it was hand-polished in the interior to preserve the gold plating. The exterior was polished so beautifully shiny that you can see my reflection in the front of the cup.
Kiddush Cup and matching plate before and after repair
This Kiddush cup was bent out of round when it arrived. The challenging aspect is to get this Kiddush cup round without damaging the gold plating on the inside of the cup. I am extremely careful to protect the gold plating best possible, and then only hand polish the inside of the cup. The exterior of the cup and matching plate was also polished.
19th Century Eastern European Kiddush Cup
This small Kiddush cup (left) had dents removed and then it was polished. It is about 2" high which is an indication of its great value in another time and place when owning even a small silver cup was a precious object.