How to give brass an antique patina

There are lots of ways to give brass an aged or antique look. But unless you plan to use paint, the first thing you want to be sure of is that the item being aged is actually brass. Just be sure the item has the weight of brass and take a look at the back or bottom to be sure the object is brass straight through. The lovely antique patina develops either naturally or with your help through a variety of chemical reactions that happen with actual brass.

My project was solid brass candle sconces scored on half off day at Southern Thrift. I was looking for whatever method would allow me to be cheap, lazy and use stuff I have on hand. I also kind of liked the idea of a greenish patina, not just overall darkening. It turns out that this method is so simple that tutorial style photos are unnecessary:

-- Find an empty spray bottle around the house and wash it out.
-- Fill spray bottle with tap water and add a random amount of kosher salt. I was being way too lazy to measure.
-- Set brass items down outside somewhere. Probably aim for somewhere that people won’t trip over them and dogs won’t poo on them.
-- Spray liberally with salt water
-- Wait a day and check on the progress. If you forget about them for a while that’s fine. (Goodness knows I did.)
--Depending on the amount of patina you want, you can spray them repeatedly and leave them out for as long as you like.
--If you want to bring out a dab of shine on the raised parts, hit them with some brass polish.
-- Once the objects have reached a perfect level of decay, you might consider hitting them with spray lacquer, but I didn’t.

This is how mine turned out after being left outside for ages and salt-sprayed several times:

My thrifted elephant and the myth of the upturned trunk

I am pretty sure I first read that Elephant figurines must have upturned trunks in order to bring good luck to the home from a Rachel Ashwell/Shabby Chic book. Over time I saw that advice repeated elsewhere. Bad news for me, because:

This elephant was a thrift store half-off day find. Determined to redeem my own little elephant, and downturned-trunk-elephants the world over, I poked around on the Internet hoping to find the original source of the trunk myth.

What I found were pages celebrating all things elephant, the Indian god, Ganesha, and Thai and American sites that debunk the trunk-up thing. The lucky elephant motif has its roots in British colonialism and American's love of anything "exotic". The white elephant was rumored in the early 20th century to be the mark of Indian royalty. From Lucky Mojo:

"This "trunk up" belief has no apparent origin in Africa, India, or South East Asia where elephants are native, but is widespread in the USA, and many Asian and African amulet and statuary makers now produce trunk-up elephant statues for American buyers. It may have originated in the west-British and Irish belief that a lucky horseshoe must face upward or "the luck will run out.")"

In spite of elephant figures having their roots in colonialism and cultural appropriation, elephants can still symbolize all sorts of good things. The endangered elephant certainly deserves our love and respect. After all: "That’s because it’s not the trunk, but the elephant’s size and its ability to use its immense strength with gentleness and intelligence that has endeared the creature to man for centuries." (source)