How do you clean the painted surfaces safely?

Use a soft dry brush for general dusting. A clean makeup brush works well to reach into the crevices around the handles and applied decoration without dragging the surface. Keep water away from the gold. If the vase has a grease mark, a lightly damp cloth on the glazed porcelain is fine, but rubbing a gilded rim with moisture will eventually lift the metal.

I found one with a lid stuck tight inside the neck, and I am worried about breaking the porcelain if I force it off.

Lids stick when a residue builds up on the unglazed flange over several decades. Changes in room temperature can also cause the tight tolerance of the porcelain to lock the cover in place. Never force the finial. Turn the vase upside down over a thick folded towel and tap the base lightly with the flat of your hand. The vibration is usually enough to break the seal and let the lid drop out.

Can they still hold water for flowers?

Most dealers advise against it. The interior glaze on these vases can craze over time, allowing water to seep into the porous ceramic body beneath. Water causes staining that shows through to the outside. If you want to use them for display, drop a smaller glass tube inside the neck to hold the stems and the water.

My grandmother kept a pair of these on the mantelpiece near the fire for years, will the heat have damaged the painted finish?

Fireplace heat is rarely an issue for the enamel colours. These pigments were fired in a factory kiln at temperatures far beyond what a domestic hearth puts out. Soot is the main problem. Smoke particles settle on the glaze and dull the appearance of the raised gilding over time.

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Victorian Worcester Vases

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Antique Worcester vases are decorative porcelain vessels produced in the West Midlands from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, designed strictly for display to dress grand mantelpieces and formal sideboards.