Everything You Want to Know About Identifying Brass (Well, Almost)
We’ve all been there. You’re browsing the shelves at the thrift store, flea market or antique shop and you spot what looks like brass peeking out from behind a chunky ironstone bowl. You gently pull the piece out to examine it closer, but once its in your hand you begin to wonder if its the real thing or a brass look-alike. Before you spend your hard earned money on something that turns out to be a cheaply made piece of faux brass or common metal with a thin veneer of brass, you want to have a few tricks up your sleeve to help you identify if it’s the real-deal.
First, feel the weight of the piece. Solid brass is heavier than faux brass—those are the pieces that are an inferior metal painted with a gold finish to mimic real brass. Once you’ve held a solid brass figurine or urn you will have a pretty good idea if the piece you are examining is real or not. When you can pick up, and or feel, an object you are interested in purchasing it can go a long way in helping you determine the quality of the piece. If you’ve ever observed professional antique dealers and resellers when they are out sourcing, you will see them touching and holding items before they purchase them. Once you’ve handled a variety of quality pieces, you can often readily spot the wannabes. But touch alone isn’t the only factor in identifying real brass.
This is a good quality piece of solid brass. It is hand etched in a repeating pattern, it is thicker than cheaper brass or look-alikes, and it has some weight for its size.
As mentioned above, some brass pieces are actually made from cheaper metals like cast iron or steel and covered with a thin layer of brass. If this is the case, it may be difficult to determine authenticity of solid brass by feeling the weight since iron and steel can be quite heavy and the brass veneer is real brass. In this case, using a small magnet can provide you with some valuable information. Pure brass is non-magnetic. If you apply a magnet to a solid brass item, the magnet will simply fall off. If there is underlying iron or some other metal, the magnet will have no problem sticking to the item even if it has a brass veneer. It’s easy to simply toss a small refrigerator magnet into your bag or pocket before heading out to shop so you can easily test the magnetism of items you come across.
What about the color of the brass. Why are some pieces yellowish while others look more reddish-orange? The answer to this question is in the composition of the material. Brass is an alloy composed of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). The amount of each element can vary in brass, hence the variations in color. If there is more copper present, the brass will have a redder hue and more zinc makes the brass more yellow. The presence of these two elements is what causes brass to tarnish—that’s when you get the dark discolorations on the surface of the brass. If you see tarnishing and the magnet didn’t stick to the item, you are probably holding a piece of brass. But what if the magnet didn’t stick and the piece feels somewhat heavy, indicating it is probably solid brass, yet there’s no tarnishing and the piece looks rather bright and shiny? This could be because there was a coating of lacquer applied to the piece to prevent tarnishing. Brass makers have been using a lacquer finish on brass peices since the 1860s. The older the piece the more likely that the lacquer has begun to wear off and the piece may look blotchy in spots. You have the option of completely removing the remaining lacquer or enjoy the authentic patina as many collectors prefer to do. It is recommended by serious collectors that you do not remove the patina from brass a you risk further corrosion of the piece. Simply wipe the item with a damp cloth to remove dust or dirt, but try to avoid corrosive cleaners or other popular hacks you may hear about.
This piece is a combination of repousse (hammered brass) and a metal rim and base. The magnet sticks easily to the rim, but doesn’t stick to the middle portion on the brass relief.
This pot is brass and copper. You can see the lacquer finish and where it is wearing off.
Finally, check for maker’s marks and other visible markings. Much of the brass you find while out thrifting or in yard sales is from India, a major producer and distributor of brass. Just as with most products, there is high quality brass from India and items of lesser quality. The higher quality items are thicker, will often be hand-hammered in a repetitive pattern (see photo) or be hand etched with intricate designs. Often these pieces are marked with numbers or letters on the underside. Some pieces will have a foil sticker that reads Made in India, however, these are often long gone.
This piece still has the original sticker
Here you can clearly see the hand-punched mark
Finding good quality brass in the wild can be challenging as it has risen in popularity in the past couple of years and much of it is getting scooped up by thrift stores for their own websites and resold at market value, by resellers, like myself, who are looking for those quality pieces at low prices for resale, or those who simply enjoy scouring flea markets, garage sales, estate sales and thrift stores for those one-of-a-kind finds. Don’t give up on the search because that’s half the fun and when you find that amazing gorgeous piece that gets your heart racing, it makes it all worth the time and effort! Happy hunting and may you score that good brass for reselling or your own collection.
