Reading a surface
Wear can tell you how an object was used. Here is what to notice before you restore it.
The places hands return to
Start at the handle, the seat edge and the threshold. These are the places where repeated contact makes a surface uneven. A polished patch beside a dull one can be more revealing than an uninterrupted finish. Photograph the whole piece first, then these small changes.
A mark is not a date
A scratch tells you that something happened; it rarely tells you when. Separate what you can see from what you have been told. In a catalogue record, “worn paint at the lower rail” is more useful than an unsupported claim about age.
Compare the front with the sheltered reverse. Note colour differences, filled holes and replacement fittings. Keep those observations with the photographs so the next person can read the object without having to guess.