Dusting (and drawing) Mom's knickknacks

One of the few chores I had as a kid was dusting. Dusting tabletops, shelves and miscellaneous items that Dad called "knickknacks" -- glass and metal items we never used but insisted on attracting dust. I was inspired to sketch the most memorable...

My Mom had two chafing dishes, a silver one and a copper one, like the one below. I remember how hard it was to open the brass lid on the small cylinder at the bottom.

Mom collected lots of glassware, some of it Depression era, like this small milk glass cruet. 

This large amber ashtray sat on a coffee table for years without being used. 

Mom spent days refurbishing a copper tub, polishing it to a brilliant orange shine.

I always thought my Mom's Murano glass clowns were handsome, but my husband recently admitted that he thinks they are hideous. 

I may have imagined it, but I'm pretty sure my Mom had at least one set of glass grapes, which were popular in the 1960s. Each grape was plum-sized and came with plastic green leaves.

Finally, the Buddhas....I'm not sure why Mom had a set of wooden Buddha figures -- she never expressed any interest in the religion -- but I enjoyed dusting them. I even brought them home to my house, so I could continue dusting them.