Traditional Water Gilding

Traditional Water Gilding is the oldest of all the gilding methods, with the origins of gilding dating back over 4,000 years ago to Northern Africa. The sheets of what we think of today as gold leaf were in its earliest form more of a thick foil which would be pinned to an object for ornamentation, often with Spiritual significance.

Very little has changed over the years throughout the history of Traditional Water Gilding. A surface foundation we call gesso today is still comprised of an animal-based glue and filler - rabbit skin glue and calcium carbonate or calcium sulphate - with a clay mixed with the glue and applied for color over the white gesso informing the tonality of this thin metal while also providing a cushion underneath the gold to aid in its burnishing. Today we usually use agate stones in various shapes for burnishing gold and silver leaf which makes the leaf shine and compresses it into the surface making it more durable in its bond to the surface. Historically, however, a dog’s tooth was used for burnishing as described by Cennini in his late 14th Treatise Il Libro dell’Arte - The Craftsman’s Handbook. Two translations are available, the earliest by Daniel Thompson (1954 is the first Publication by Dover) with the newest (2015) by Lara Broecke. There are other earlier translations of this intriguing writing of Cennino d’Andrea Cennini with each new translation correcting the previous.

One aspect of gilding that has changed throughout its history is the thickness of gold leaf due to the malleable characteristic of gold to be beaten thin, most notably with the progressive use of machinery taking the place of hand hammering, although still used to some degree by the goldbeaters. I was very fortunate to witness this ancient craft of gold beating when I visited the Manetti Gold Beating Factory in Florence where I watched as ribbons of gold were beaten and ultimately cut into 3 3/8 inch squares and packaged for delivery. A wonderful experience to be detailed in another story for another day.

Water Gilded Panels Class…Pastiglia to Sgraffito

The method of traditional water gilding can be seen on 13th and 14thc Florentine egg tempera panel paintings, a period which can be viewed as a point of reference for the online gilding class Traditional Water Gilded Panels…From Pastiglia to Sgraffito. Of all the gilding classes offered through Charles Douglas Gilding Studio this is the most extensive, meeting weekly for 12 weeks in includes the embellishment techniques of Granito, Pastiglia, and Sgraffito.

To grasp a full understanding of Traditional Water Gilded Panels students are taken through each step of this ancient method which include the following steps:

• Chamfering the panel’s edges

• Preparing the 10% Rabbit Skin Glue Size

• Sizing the Panel

• Applying and glueing Fabric to the Panel

• Preparing and applying Hard and Soft Gesso

• Sanding the Gesso

• Preparing and Applying Clay Bole

• Gilding in 23k Gold Leaf

• Burnishing

• Granito

Gilding Recipes For Gesso and Clay Bole

The recipes for the Rabbit Skin Glue (RSG) Size, Hard and Soft Gesso, and Clay Bole can be downloaded at the Charles Douglas Gilding Studio website under the Materials and Recipes Tab in the Navigation Bar. Students are shown in the online class how to properly prepare all of the materials and the panel for gilding in genuine 23k gold leaf. The gesso recipe was passed onto me many years ago based on an old English approach and later presented to be the best for its stability in a paper Titled Physical Properties of Gilding Gesso by Marion F. Meklenburg from the book Gilded Wood Conservation and History, edited by Deborah Bigelow who I was fortunate to have taken a class with in 1998 on the concept of Toning Gilding which was around the same time as the publication of what remains my favorite reference books on gilding.

During the Water Gilded Panels class students gain an understanding of the principles of how the system of Traditional Water Gilding works for stability of the gilding on wood, adhesion of gold leaf to the clay bole, how the gold leaf is burnished, and how the various decorative embellishments of granito, pastiglia, and sgraffito are performed.

Handling Gold Leaf

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of learning to water gild is the handling of the extremely thin gold leaf which can measure as thin as 1/250,000th of an inch (less than the width of a human hair). Despite the extreme delicate nature of this beautiful and malleable of all metals it can be managed and tamed and with time and correct practice students can become adept at handling gold leaf

Students are shown how to use the gilder’s main tools - the pad, knife, and ‘tip’, the thin-haired sable or squirrel hair brush used to pick up the gold leaf from the gilder’s pad where the leaf was cut with the gilder’s knife to the desired size off gold leaf with the knife. I also demonstrate cutting small pieces of leaf as tiny as 1mm for spot gilding, the practice of applying small pieces of leaf to spots where the gold may have been missed, generally from either a small air bubble or breakage in the gold.

Gold leaf is subject to various conditions which can be difficult to contend with especially for the beginner - static electricity in the room and on the pad or knife, knicks in the knife, insufficient skin or hair oil which is used to pick up the gold leaf (no, we don’t want static for this, no matter what you read elsewhere!), and often, that slight breeze from someone walking by that blows your leaf right off the table! But in time you’ll learn how to handle each of these situations and I personally guide you in each class that’s offered through demonstrations and discussion due to its importance.

Gilding The Panel

Each session for the online class Traditional Water Gilded Panels…From Pastiglia to Sgraffito involves 12 weeks of Study where students gather with me online weekly for 90 minutes. The first hour is dedicated to a specific step in the water gilding process for Panels with the remaining 30 minutes allowed for a Question and Answer period with the students, a dynamic aspect of the online classes where we can explore student’s questions in depth.

The preparation of the 12” x 12” Panel takes the first five lessons, from preparing the Size and Gesso to applying the five layers of silky smooth Clay Bole. We are then ready to begin gilding.

Both Single and Double Gilding are demonstrated in class where Double Gilding is simply applying a second layer of gold leaf over the first which provides for an absolutely fully covered layer of gold over the gessoed panel. The main objective of Double Gilding is to cover any areas where the initial single layer of gold leaf may have small holes from air bubbles, breaks in the leaf where the overall appearance of the gilding would be more uniform in its beauty by Double Gilding rather than simple spot gilding which can sometimes leave ghost images from general touch-ups.

A student’s gilding will become more proficient with time and better leaf-laying skills will leave fewer imperfections but there is sometimes the occasional mishap in water gilding where a second application of gold leaf can provide an overall more attractive appearance. These concepts of spot gilding, single gilding, and double gilding are all discussed and demonstrated during lessons 6-8 where the class is focused on laying gold leaf to the panel.

Burnishing, Granito, Pastiglia, Egg Tempera Sgraffito

…To Be Continued!

Double Gilding

An object that is double gilded has two layers of gold leaf laid, one atop of the other. This is normally done with the traditional water gilding method and imparts a very deep, golden tone that is generally free from defects in the gilding. Water gilded leaf has a satin tone in its natural state; burnishing the gold or silver leaf brings the metal to a brilliant lustre.

When water gilded leaf is left satin, it's left un-burnished. This means that the leaf not only has a satin tone but is also not compressed into the clay bole that is applied to the underlying gesso such as a gilded picture frame furniture, or other wooden object and therefore bonding of the gold leaf to the surface is somewhat more vulnerable to wear. It has historically always been this way and old water gilded frames and furniture that have unburnished satin areas will likely show more wear than their burnished counterparts. Therefore, I often use additional 10@ RSG (rabbit skin glue) or gelatin in the gilding water for unburnished areas to aid in adhesion. I also sometimes sometimes apply a 5:1 10% Glue to Water wash over the satin leaf for added protection.

Spot and Single Gilding

Single layer water gilding sometimes results in some anomalies ('spots' exposing underlying clay bole from trapped air bubbles or breaks in the leaf) during the process of gilding, many of which can be covered during spot gilding, although if done excessively the result can be somewhat unsightly due to ghost images of these small sections of leaf applied over existing gilded leaf. Double gilding covers all the anomalies that single gilding sometimes leaves behind and is useful when gilding satin areas. It offers a very solid layer of gold leaf.

There are times, though, that the somewhat translucent quality of single water gilding is preferred when developing a satin section, especially when other areas of the water gilded object are rubbed, abraded, or distressed. As an example, a picture frame that is antiqued to some degree can be a little jarring if the sides are a strong solid double gild. It is often aesthetically best if the overall appearance of the gilding presents a sympathetic quality between each of the gilded sections, where no one area is dramatically different in its condition.

The technique of Double Gilding is demonstrated in the Water Gilding for Panels Online gilding class which is discussed on the website page for Gilding Class Information.