Can I replace a missing glass drop?

Finding a match takes patience. Dealers often keep boxes of loose Victorian prisms for this purpose.

My grandmother left me a pair of these and one has a crack running down the main stem, can a glassmaker fix that kind of damage?

Once glass cracks, the structural integrity is compromised. A glassmaker can't fuse the crack back together without heating the whole piece, which ruins the shape. Consolidants can stabilise the flaw. A specialist can inject a clear optical resin into the fissure to prevent it spreading.

How do you clean the prisms safely?

Take the drops off the main rim before washing them. Leaving them attached puts stress on the old wire pins. Use warm water with a mild detergent. Dry each prism immediately with a soft cloth. This stops water spots forming.

I have a pair where the enamel flowers are quite worn away on the front, should I try to paint them back in or leave them?

Leave the worn enamel as it is. Adding modern craft paint over nineteenth-century glass alters the surface texture. Fading is a normal part of the object's history. Gentle dusting is all the surface requires to maintain the remaining decoration.

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Antique Mantel Lustres

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Antique mantel lustres are ornamental glass vases or candlesticks hung with cut glass prisms, designed to sit on a fireplace mantelpiece and catch the light from nearby flames.