Preserving Opium Weights

View our collection of Opium Weights in our catalog

Opium weights were crafted by the Burmese artists between the period of the old Pyu kingdom and modern Burmese currency in the 19th century. It is recorded that Burmese people have used opium weights and scale to weight ingots of various metals for everyday commerce for at least 16th century. But after the introduction of coinage during the 1840´s, they were used mostly in the opium trade. Hence they got the name of opium weights. These weights were also replaced by the standardized round weights introduced by British.

Due to the artistic nature, travelers then started to collect the weights for their personal collections. When the artifacts were in demand, the Burmese artists also started to replicate. Earlier the opium weights were casted only in bronze but slowly brass were also used. Now, the collector and curators have bronze and brass opium weights.

Preserving Opium weights

It is obvious that these weights have aged much therefore we should take care in order to last it long. There are certain procedure which are mentioned below.

Cleaning our Bronze weights

We all know that bronze is an alloy, mixture of copper and a few percentages of tin along with other metals in very few percentage. When bronze is exposed to air and moisture, we will see a greenish layer on the surface of the bronze. This greenish layer is patina. Some people love this patina which confirms the antiqueness in the materials while other don't find this good. So they tend to clean. If you are also thinking about cleaning this one then we believe you should follow the following methods to clean without damaging the weights.

At first we need to clean the weights in warm water. Then leave the weight to dry completely. Now we need to make a cleaning solution. We can make it after following two procedure-

First one is the mixture of baking soda and lemon juice. We need to mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda and lemon juice until it converts into the paste form.

Alternatively, we can also use mixture of vinegar, flour, and salt. We need to mix equal parts of flour and salt and then add white vinegar to form a soft paste.

After the paste is formed, we can now apply it to the weights with the help of soft cotton cloth or rubber gloves or bare hand whatever we feel comfortable. We can then rub the paste in small circular motions with the help of a piece of cloth. This step is the main step to gain the cleanliness and tidy effect in the bronze weights. So we should rub it until we find it good. We need to leave the weights for about half an hour and then rinse it with warm water to remove the paste and dry the weight with a clean towel.

Finally, we have the Antique Bronze Weights cleaned. While following the steps we have to be extra careful because of the valuable assets that we possess. If something goes wrong then we will certainly lose it.

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Cleaning our Brass Weights

Brass is a metal alloy- mixture of copper and zinc. We can clean the material through many methods. Some of them are mentioned below.

For the first method, we need baking soda, washing soda, and a non-aluminum pot. we need to boil water in the pot and gradually add up few teaspoons of baking and washing soda. When the water boils, we can dip the weights inside the water for some time and gently clean the dirt by softer tool. If the lacquer is deposited in the statue then this method will help to remove it.

An alternative method is to wash the weights with warm water consisting of dish detergent. We can use soft sponge to wash the weights. We can also use the toothbrush with soft bristles to clean corners. After the washing, we need to dry the weights with the help of the piece of cotton.

If tarnish is seen then we can use acidic agents like combination of lemon and salt. First, cut the lemon into pieces, take out the seeds, and then dip into salt. The polish the weights with the lemon slice. After that clean it with warm soapy water. For drying the weights, we can use cotton.

If these cleaning methods are used properly, then it is sure we can preserve the opium weights for longer periods.