I have restored numerous lights -- Love them!

Yes -- the cardboard is safe. And if any are torn -- they are available at most good hardware stores. I would recommend re-wiring it ASAP. Fabric covered cord is available -- if you can't find it in your area, Hippo Hardware in Portland OR has a wide range of colors and will ship it out to you.

As far as polishing -- it can be a tough job. There might be some lacquer on it. It doesn't quite look tarnished enough to be un-lacquered brass. You might try a little soap and water and a soft cloth on the dark spots.

The pan will be easy to polish up but it can get tough in the decorative areas. You can take it to most any place that repairs and restores lamps and they have the polishing wheels and buffers to make the job easier. But you will end up with polished brass finish --

It doesn't look too bad to me -- I'd leave it as is.

The wiring looks new to me, I'd leave it.
Before you polish anything, make sure it's brass...put a magnet on any area you want to polish. It should not stick.
Brasso is a good metal polish as is Simichrome.
Do you have the glass shades?
Linda C

The wiring has a ground wire so I would agree that it's new.
Things are usually easier to polish if they are clean, so I would try cleaning it first & see how that comes out.

Thanks for your advice everyone. I took the fixture into a local light shop today. Even though it is evidently rewired he recommended doing another rewiring because ground wires don't extend to the sockets, only the main piece. Since I also don't like the look of the current wires used (striped orange color) I decided to have him do it. He also recommended that I not try to polish it at all. I would, however, like to clean it. Is there a deeper cleaning I should try that what I've already done--washed it gently with a wet cloth? Should I use dishsoap or something? Thanks.

For cleaning you can use a bit of mild soap in hot water & to get the grease off you can put a tablespoon of TSP in the water, but if you use the TSP please use gloves. It won't hurt the finish but will remove any grease. It may dull the finish a bit which you can use a mild polish on. I don't know why he would tell you not to polish it, it doesn't really have any desirable patina. If you check out restored lighting sites, they have all polished their fixtures.

I would not use a chemical cleaner on it - I'd just use liquid dish soap and water.

Once you've rewired and cleaned it, if you want a bit of a shine to it, rub on a bit of good old paste wax. I like the 2-toned finish.

I'd like to polish it a bit, but as I understand it the person at the lighting store said it already most likely had a protective coating on it originally (otherwise it would be black with tarnish) and I would be taking this off. Also, the two-toned look is a gray paint that is probably pretty fragile and would come right off with polish.

Paste wax won't take the coating/finish off. Give it a try on a small, inconspicuous place.

Do not remove any patina as this is part of the antique provonence. Removing this lowers its value. You may clean off any dirt and gunk with a mild detergent, but leave the patina. If the original brass parts were lacquered, this may have darkened and you are stuck with this until you can get an antique expert to examine your piece and make cleaning recommendations. Also, an old lacquer finish is easily damaged.

The lamp sockets appear new, maybe part of the rewire job. If so, I hope that you saved the old parts. I have a floor lamp that appears to have been made in the same era as your lamp and it has an oversized lamp socket. The cardboard insulation in it has deterioated and I wanted to renew it, but soon discovered that the socket was oversized. Modern parts will not fit. I would have had to replace the entire lamp socket and switch, and then it would have been a 'modified' antique. I replaced the wiring but have not solved the remainder of my problem.

I note in your 2nd photo that the outer brass shell has split possibly from overtightening the retaining screws for holding a globe. This is not an unusal condition for certain alloys of old brass exposed to todays atmosphere. Screws for retaining glass globes should not be tight, just snug enough to retain the globe.