Oil Gilding

Applying the Gold - If the wood to be gilded is finished with varnish or otherwise, no additional foundation is necessary upon which to lay the gold-leaf; if the wood is not finished, after it has been smoothed and dusted, give it one or two coats of parchment size, after it is perfectly dry and hard again smoothing the surface with fine sand-paper. That the gold may not adhere to any part of the work except where the size is hard, powder the surface lightly with whiting from a pounce-bag, which is a small bag made of material sufficiently loose to permit the powdered whiting to sift through as fine dust; if preferred, any of the preceding receipts for that purpose can be used instead. Remove the surplus whiting with the dusting-brush, and the work is then ready for the size. Apply this with a sable or fit brush of the proper size, carefully observing not to make the outer lines of the design clear and sharp, that the work may not appear ragged. Let the size remain until it feels tacky, when the gold may be applied. This is the most difficult part of the operation, and experience is necessary before gold-leaf can be laid smoothly, without a wrinkle or a break. Turn a leaf of' gold out of the book upon the cushion ; breathe gently upon the center of the leaf and it will lay flat on the cushion ; cut it to proper size by bringing the knife perpendicularly over it, and sawing it gently until divided. Take your tip (a brush used for the purpose) and after drawing it lightly over your hair to remove any particles or dust that may be upon it, breathe upon it gently which will dampen it sufficiently to cause the leaf of gold to adhere to it; lay the tip upon the leaf of gold and carefully transfer it to the work: blow upon it gently and it will straighten out and adhere. It may be rendered quite smooth by slightly dabbing it with a bit of cotton. In about an hour wash off the superfluous gold from the edges, with a sponge and water. If the article is to be exposed to the weather or much wear, the gilding may be varnished with copal varnish.

Burnish-Gilding

As previously stated, this process requires a specially prepared foundation upon which to lay the gold, and as the preparation of this foundation is a distinct trade, the furniture dealer or cabinet-maker seldom finds it necessary to undertake it, the articles coming to his hand ready-prepared for gilding; but as in repairing picture-frames, cornices, mirror frames, etc., it frequently becomes necessary to renew the foundation, a comprehensive description of the whole process is given.

Preparing The Wood-Work

After smoothing and dusting the work, coat the frames in every part with boiling-hot parchment size, described on page 27; then mix a sufficient quantity of whiting with size to the consistency of thick cream, and with it by means of a brush, coat every part of the frame several times, permitting each coat to become perfectly dry before proceeding with the next. The wood will thus be covered with a layer of hard whiting nearly or quite a sixteenth of an inch in thickness. The size must not be too thick and when mixed with the whiting should not be so hot as the preliminary coat of size.

Polishing

When the prepared frames are quite dry, clean and polish them. To do this, wet a small piece at a time, and, with a smooth, fine piece of cloth, dipped in water, rub the part till all the bumps and inequalities are removed; and for those parts where the fingers will not enter, as the mouldings, etc, wind the wet cloth round a piece of wood, and by this means make the surface all smooth and even alike.

Where there is carved work, etc, it will sometimes be necessary to bring the mouldings to their original sharpness by means of chisels, gouges, etc, as the preparation will be apt to fill up all the finer parts of the work, which must be thus restored. It is sometimes the practice, after polishing, to go over the work once with fine yellow or Roman ochre; but this is rarely necessary.

Appying The Size

Select the proper gold size from the receipts previously given; add parchment size until it will just flow from the brush; make it quite hot and apply it to the work with a very soft brush, taking care not to make the first coal too thick; let it dry and give two or three successive coats, after the last brushing it with a stiff brush to remove any inequalities. The work is then ready for the gold.

Laying The Gold

The manipulation of the gold-leaf has been described under the heading Oil-Gilding. In the process now being described, the size used (being water-size, which as previously explained is permitted to become hard and dry alter being applied) must be moistened to cause the gold-leaf to adhere to it. For this purpose, with a long-haired camel's-hair pencil, dipped in water, go over as much of the work as you intend the piece of gold to cover; then lay the gold upon it in the manner previously explained. Be sure that the part to which the gold is applied is sufficiently Wet; indeed it must be floating or the gold will be apt to crack. Proceed in this manner a little at a time, and do not attempt to cover too much at once, until by experience you are able to handle the gold with freedom. In proceeding with the work, if any flows or cracks appear, immediately apply a por-tion of gold sufficient to cover them. Sometimes when the gold does not appear to adhere sufficiently tight, it will be necessary to draw a pencil quite filled with water close to the edge of the gold, that the water may run underneath it and soften the size.

Burnishing

When the work is covered with gold, set it by to dry: there is a particular state or degree of dryness, known only by experience in which the moulding is in a fit state for burnishing; it will probably be ready to burnish in about eight or ten hours, but it will depend on the warmth of the room or state of the air.

When it is ready, those parts intended to be burnished must be dusted with a soft brush; then wiping the burnisher with a piece of soft wash-lether (quite dry) begin to burnish about an inch or two in length at a time, taking care not to bear too hard, but with a gentle and quick motion, applying the tool until all parts of the surface are equally bright.

Matting Or Dead Gold

Certain portions only of the work are burnished, according to the fancy, and the facility with which the burnishing-tool can be applied; the remaining parts are now to be deprived of their metallic luster, to make a more effective contrast with the burnishing. The parts thus treated are said to be matted or dead-gold. The process is as follows:

Grind some vermilion or yellow ochre very fine, and mix a very small portion either with the parchment size or with the white of an egg, and with a very soft brush lay it evenly on the parts to be dulled; if well done, it will add greatly to the beauty of the work. Previous to matting, the work must be well cleared of superfluous gold, by means of a soft brush.

Finishing

In elaborate works it is frequently impossible to lay gold-leaf into all the intricacies of an elaborate design, and the parts thus left bare must be finished by touching-up with a small brush charged with sheil-gold, or gold-powder, mixed with gum-Arabic to the proper consistency. The following receipt describes the preparation of shell-gold:

Shell-Gold

Take any quantity of leaf-gold and grind it with a small portion of honey, to a fine powder; add a little gum-Arabic and sugar-candy, with a little water, and mix it well together; let it dry.

Silver Size

Grind pipe-clay fine with a little black-lead and good soap, and add parchment-size as directed for gold-size.

Composition For Frame Ornaments

The ornaments for gilded mirror-frames, etc., are usually moulded from some plastic substance that is somewhat tougher and more durable than the ordinary gilding foundation of whiting and size. ' The proper moulds being prepared they are thoroughly rubbed upon the inside with sweet oil, and the composition firmly pressed in; after removing the mould the cast may be dried by a gentle heat, or while still plastic it can be applied in its proper place and bent into any position. Following are receipts for composition:

Dissolve one pound of glue in one gallon of water. In another kettle boil together 2 lbs. of resin, 1 gill of Venice turpentine, and 1 pint of linseed oil; mix altogether in one kettle, and boil and stir till the water has evaporated. Turn the whole into a tub of finely rolled whiting, and work it till it is of the consistency of dough.

Boil 7 lbs. of best glue in 7 half-pints of water. Melt 3 lbs. of white resin in 3 pints of raw linseed oil. When the above has been well boiled put them into a large vessel and simmer them for half-an-hour, stirring the mixture and taking care that it does not boil over. The whole must then be turned into a box of whiting rolled and sifted, and mixed till it i- of the consistency of dough.

How To Manipulate Gold Leak

Get a piece of paper, thin enough to show shadow of gold-leaf through, -lightly wax it, lay it on gold-leaf, the latter will then adhere, and can be easily worked, and will come off clean. The paper should be slightly larger than the gold-leal", and the finger- passed over the paper to make old-leaf adhere.