The Art Of Gilding

THE ART OF GILDING

Skills and Traditions; Gilding from Oliver Lynton on Vimeo.

Gilding is the act or art of applying gold leaf to a surface.  It can decorate the whole or parts of wood, metal, plaster, glass etc.  The term gilding also embraces the application of silver, palladium, aluminium or copper alloys; but when we refer to gilding the most usual is gold leaf.  

Gilding, and in particular gold leaf gilding, is an art that has been in existence for thousands of years, dating back to the times of the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Greece and Rome.  The rich aura of gold gives a certain opulence to the piece and adds importance to any object on which it is applied.  

Gilding can achieve unmatched depth and reflection of a highly burnished glow or wonderful patination to a distressed surface revealing the underlying clay.  Gilding is an artistic practice which over the centuries, almost all the world's cultures have used.

Using the appropriate and traditional methods of gilding one is able to revive the original integrity of the object.  

There are two main types of gilding; water gilding and oil gilding.  The names imply the method by which the metal leaf is applied to the surface.

WATER GILDING

More complicated and labour intensive, applying the gold leaf to a gessoed surface.  The overlying gold leaf may then be burnished in such a manner as to press the leaf into the softer gesso substrate creating an even, polished appearance.  This golden surface can be left matt or burnished to a mirror-like sheen.
 

OIL GILDING

Mainly used for architectural purposes,metal work etc using an oil mordant for application. There are many examples of this and it is widely used on exterior work such as church spires, railings, shop and pub signs, clock faces and the like.