how to clean water stains out of old vases?

Many collectors use a mixture of white vinegar and uncooked rice. You pour this into the vessel and swirl it around gently to scrub the interior walls without scratching the surface. Stubborn mineral deposits might need a denture cleaning tablet left to soak overnight. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water afterwards, as sudden temperature changes can crack the glass.

I have a pair of green glass vases from my grandmother and one has a chipped rim, is it worth getting it ground down?

Grinding a rim down alters the original proportions of the piece. If the vase has a complex frilled or flared edge, reshaping it might ruin the profile. Some restorers can polish out a minor flea bite on a smooth rim. For larger chips, many buyers prefer to leave the damage as honest wear rather than lose an inch of the neck.

why do some bases have a rough broken bit?

That broken bit is the pontil scar. It happens when the glassblower snaps the vessel off the solid iron rod. Later workshops ground the base flat and polished it to leave a smooth depression.

My tall painted glass vase wobbles a lot when you put it on a flat table and I am worried it will fall over and smash?

Blown glass forms often warp slightly as they cool down in the annealing oven. A base that seems flat might have a slight bulge in the centre. You can stabilise a wobbly piece by sticking three small felt pads to the underside of the outer rim. This gives it a steady tripod stance without altering the antique itself. Never try to sand or grind the base flat yourself. You risk creating stress fractures that travel up the body.

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Antique Glass Vases from the 19th Century

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Antique glass vases are hollow vessels, ranging from simple blown cylinders to complex cameo-cut forms, originally produced to hold floral arrangements or serve as decorative objects on sideboards.