Here is a photo of 1 of the unlacquered brass door knobs in my house. You can see that the knob which is used multiple times a day is very shiny, while the backplate is much darker. Even on the knob there is a difference between the sections that are raised and in direct contact with the skin vs the areas that are more recessed.

@kiniyagirl, that is one awesome looking door! Would love to see the entirety, if you wouldn’t mind posting a pic? What a spectacular doorknob!

I would be fine with that finish and patina ... my mother would be polishing it every day to keep it as shiny as the day it was made!

Anyone who was ever in the Navy could tell you all about the polishing of brass to keep it bright! It is a punishment detail.

I like patina so leave mine alone but not for everyone.

@HU-918119203 - when you say "hardware", you are talking about cabinet hardware, correct? I.e. pulls, knobs, hinges? In case you are also looking at faucets in unlacquered brass, here are pics from the Perrin & Rowe website. For me, I really like the photos posted in the comments above, they are lovely, but I don't want to think about polishing anything, and I don't like patina for my own home. I just like enjoying them in other people's homes. Just make sure you know which is your preference.

If you can live with the patina, go for it. Pretty certain you won't be polishing that brass on a regular basis. :-)

Otherwise, get a matte or satin brass finish. It will have a similar feeling with no upkeep.

@darbuka - here are some photos of that door. You can’t really see the leaded glass very well in the daytime, but in the evening the light just sparkles through it. The door is original to the house which was built in 1896.

@kiniyagirl, stunning! Thanks for sharing.😊

Thanks all! These are helpful. Yes, I am referring to kitchen cabinet hardware. I'm familiar with how unlacquered brass looks in the abstract, but I haven't seen any photos of a kitchen with unlacquered brass cabinet hardware reflecting all the different types of patina you'd expect to see in a kitchen (from shiny heavily used knobs to darkened rarely used ones, etc.).

@kiniyagirl that door is swoon-worthy. Lucky you.

All hardware in my photos are from the kitchen doors and china cabinet and are used every day.

I have vintage brass door knobs. My mother snagged the New York City School ones when she was teaching in New York and the old school building was modernized. They just hung out in a drawer for years along with the two knobs that are just a plain brass. I have no idea where she acquired them but I can remember all of them being in a drawer for at least fifty years.

When I remodeled I used them for my interior closets. I have never polished them or did anything so any kind of finish is due to earlier fingers creating a patina.

They go with the other hardware in my home which is a mix of oiled bronze (new), copper with a living finish so it has patinas and a vintge Neo-Gothic chandelier which was originally probaby shiny brass but is now a very dull patina - which is fine with me.

I also have some vintage knobs for my bathrooms and bedroom door which are Art Deco and which I had replated to be an dark finish - probably close to oil rubbed bronze as I liked the style but they were a more standard silver finish.

Pictures aren't great because metal is hard for me to photograph