Maison European Antiques: collecting.....Antique Gilt Wood, Water Gilt, Gold Leaf

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

collecting.....Antique Gilt Wood, Water Gilt, Gold Leaf

The first time I saw the difference between water gilding & gold or gilt leaf, I was in Parma, Italy at a large antique market. It was in the mid 1990s, a wonderful and very knowledgable antique merchant showed me the difference between the two different creations. While both are beautiful, a true antique water gilded object has a glow & a depth of gold that delights your eye. I know I fell in love with the art of water gilding that day, in Italy in the stall of an Italian merchant. I can still see his hands as he turned the carved water gilded frame to show me the differences & the beauty of the art. I would find many fabulous objects from this merchant, Mr. Antonio, he delighted me on each visit with his tales of growing up the son of an Italian art dealer, I always felt I had learned more from him than any art history course.

The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt", when applied over wood, it's called Gilt Wood.

If gilding is on wood, the surface was often first coated with gesso. "Gesso" is a substance made of finely ground gypsum or chalk mixed with glue. Once the coating of gesso had been applied, allowed to dry and smoothed, it was re-wet with a sizing made of glue and water. Water gilding, which allows the surface to be subsequently burnished to a mirror-like finish, the gold leaf was layered on the gesso and left to dry. Water gilding in the Old World was quite an art and has a glow not achieved from simply applying gold leaf. Sharing with you a few examples of gilt wood...