Working up some muscle!

I don't know about anyone else but I seem to have got very lazy about keeping my brass and silver clean. It's funny really when I was working I, somehow, managed to do this little chore far more frequently than I have since I retired. I probably used caring for my mother as a reason (excuse more like)! So the other day when it was raining I decided to tackle a brass tray that sits on a ledge on my stairs. It took me an hour of hard rubbing to bring back the shine. My arm was aching but I was quite pleased with the result:

You might not be able to see all the detail of the patterns etched into this tray; and I do wish I knew more about it's origins! For example how old it is, and what the picture depicts. It looks oriental but this sort of design was often copied. I'll probably never know!