What is Water Gilding?
Water gilding is only used for interior applications and is most frequently used on frames, furniture and objects. Preparation of the surface for water gilding is as follows- Glue size is applied to the wood. Numerous coats (6 to 10) of gesso are applied, sanded and polished. Several coats (usually 3) of gilder’s clay (bole) are applied and polished. Gold leaf is then applied using gilder’s liquor which activates the glue present in the bole and gesso. At this point, the gold leaf may be left as is, providing a matte appearance, or may be burnished with the polished agate. In order to further accentuate the burnished surfaces some areas of the gilding are left matte. Of the two types of gilding, water gilding is the only method of applying gold leaf that allows the surface to be burnished which provides the highly reflectivity.
