Article: The art of gilding. (Testing A Technique).(18th century art technique)

BOTH METAL AND SURFACES CAN BE GILDEDI but the gilding process is very different for each material. Artisans in Louis XIV's time applied a mixture of gold powder and mercury to the metal mounts intended for the corners of furniture. When the metal pieces were heated over a flame, the mercury evaporated and a thin layer of gold remained on the surface of the piece. A very different technique was used to gild wood. Described below, it involved very thin sheets of gold leaf to decorate the surface.

To wood surfaces, artisans applied gesso, a combination of powdered chalk and warm animal glue (in France, glue made from rabbit skin is traditional). While the gesso is ...

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