I never said, don't clean anything. Active rust must be arrested, verdigris removed, etc. And yes, in their day of usage, weapons were highly polished, from end to end. Even military muskets were left "in the white", to encourage daily cleaning. (And give the soldiers something to do.) If an edged weapon has an excellent blade, yes polished other bits look great. But, when the blade is pitted, to me, polished bits look out of place.
I AM an antiques dealer, and I vigorously clean everything I sell. It's all about presentation. Preservation is langniappe. But, I never polish metals, other than steel. If it's already clean. If a blade has a nice pleasing plumb patina, I oil it, and leave it alone. Pitted blades are just cleaned of rust, and oiled. I never polish brass, copper, or silver. If it's black, I just knock enough black off, so you can see what kind of metal it is. But, that's just me. If the next owner wants to polish things, they can knock themselves out.
Now, if a mass produced item like a bayonet is too far gone for cleaning, I will do a complete restoration. (If it's value is worth the effort.) Just to try to regain a little dignity for the poor thing. Even at that, it will never look new, so "patina" is applied, after the work is done. The piece is then represented as a restoration.
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