The old style polish of beeswax, turpentine and linseed oil will blacken with age. Clean it carefully ... Dust it, then use mild soap and water on a soft cloth to remove water-soluble crud. Then shift to mineral spirits and 0000 steel wool, cleaning gently to get the oil-based hand grime and such off. If you have a flaky, scaly finish, that's probably old wax buildup. Remove it with a blend of lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol (I use 50/50). Apply liberally to a small area, let it soften a few moments, then gently rub off the crud with the steel wool. Repeat until clean. Do this outside, with gloves because the fumes are vile and flammable. This picture shows what removing the decades of old polish and wax can do - It went from black to walnut in about an hour.

There's a great product for treating dried out wood. It's called FA Seeds' Wood Dressing. It's the best way I know of restoring wood. Here's some info from their website. FA Seeds' Wood Dressing prevents all wood (especially veneers) from drying out, becoming brittle and cracking or splitting. Forced air heat is the worst possible treatment for fine woods and wood dressing if the best possible prevention and cure. Seeds� wood dressing should be applied with a slightly dampened cheesecloth and allowed to stand as long as possible. The longer the wood dressing is allowed to stay on the surface, the more penetration occurs. After allowing to penetrate (on most finishes, penetration is easily visible) simply wipe with a clean, dry, cheesecloth with the grain. You should obtain a grain deep, stain, patina-free of residue. Different finishes require different amounts of time for the wood dressing to penetrate. Open-pored finishes will literally soak up the wood dressing and may require several applications. New finishes, especially laquers, shellacs and varnishes may require 12-24 hours for full penetration. Here is a link that might be useful: FA Seeds' Company

Heat and moisture will loosen hide glue so dis-assemble the whole thing,refit/tighten joints and use nothing other than hide glue(including veneer) to re-assemble. Why hide? Because moisture and water will alow joints be separated if needed later on. IDK what to do with finish either,your call. Good luck and post pics when you are done.

HI -- I would not do more brass but have a look at Restoration Hardware lighting for ideas . Maybe you would like a hanging star . Restorationhardware.com