Black stains on 100 year old wood

[slab2000]

I'm getting back to a restoration project and would like opinions please. I am an avid amateur and am restoring a plant pot stand (I think!) that my great uncle made during his apprenticeship around 1920. He grabbed whatever wood was available at the time and I can count at least three types. My aim is to restore it as a piece of 'family art', retaining as much as I can that reflects the producer as well as how it has been used and 'restored' over the years by various family members. The three distinct coloured woods has come up magnificent, I really like it. Some would not.

In most cases I have been able to make a definitive call, such as original imperfections in the piece (retain), painted with pink paint (mostly remove). However my lack of experience is making one call difficult - the top horizontal platform (I believe which held pot plants over the years) is showing some black stains that have not budged with some light sanding. My question is, do you consider the black stains part of the history (perhaps produced from water stains from the pot plant) or are these appropriate to remove? I know this will come down to personal preference, but since I don't really have a strong preference and that it is important to me to understand what an expert would think (my great uncle was studying to become a carpenter when he made this piece), I would value opinions. Thanks.

I've attached some photos.

[BobL]

History - usually.

Chances are the stains run deep - the water and dissolved mineral will have soakeded in a long way. and attempts too remove them can turn out worse than the original.

[slab2000]

History - usually.

Chances are the stains run deep - the water and dissolved mineral will have soakeded in a long way. and attempts too remove them can turn out worse than the original.

Good to know! The stains could be pre-1970's when the wood may have been only waxed so the stains might be pretty baked in.

[orraloon]

Not a surprise with a plant stand as water would have spilled over on it quite often. In fact you would expect them on an old plant stand. As Bob said there is little chance of removing them without taking a lot of wood off. It's not a bad look and reflects the history of the piece really well.
Regards
John

[rustynail]

Black staining is usually indicative of iron. If water was drawn from a bore, well or dam the chances of a highish iron content would be great. All part of the pieces history.

[slab2000]

Thanks for the input, looks like we have consensus to leave stains. I can work with that.