gold-leaf-msg - 2/15/06
Working with gold leaf, tools.
NOTE: See also the files: calligraphy-msg, inks-msg, callig-suppl-msg, paper-msg, parchment-msg, quills-msg, sealing-wax-msg, early-books-msg, endoring-msg, gilded-food-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: 29 Jan 92
From: dmb at lyapunov.ucsd.EDU (Doug Brownell)
Organization: Intstitute for Nonlinear Science, UCSD
Greetings unto the Rialto from Thomas Brownwell in Calafia, Caid.
Milord Godfrey of Shipbroke wrote concerning scrolls and material
costs and something which he hath said did spark a remembrance in me.
To wit:
>... my scrolls
>aren't THAT expensive to make (I can't afford gold leaf, so the biggest
>expense is paper, which really isn't THAT expensive).
Never had I tried to do gold leaf through fear and loathing of
failure and cost, but I was introduced to it recently and was most
impressed by the simplicity of it. Then, on a quest to ferret out
the fair sheets, I came upon a source of gold leaf sheets at a
company which supplies furniture manufacturers and repairers, for
these craftsmen use gold leaf in abundance in their art. The lowest
price I have come across was $32 for 25 sheets (standard 3x3 inches)
of 22 carat leaf, plus they had an assortment of other interesting
gold blends, in particular a 10 carat *white* gold blend at $20
for 25 sheets. It is a perfect replacement for silver paints
or silver leaf because it will *never* become foully tarnished (the
bane of all scribes using silver paint or leaf).
The fine company which supplied me is near, yea, just down the road
(oh, happy am I!). I will send more details for those who so wish.
Thomas
30 Jan 92
From: branwen at flipper.ccc.amdahl.com (Karen Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA
In article <9201292109.AA15845 at lyapunov.ucsd.edu.UCSD.EDU> dmb at lyapunov.ucsd.EDU (Doug Brownell) writes:
>Never had I tried to do gold leaf through fear and loathing of
>failure and cost, but I was introduced to it recently and was most
>impressed by the simplicity of it.
If you wish to try gold leaf, I suggest you buy some "fake" gold leaf
(gold foil) at an art store. It's only about five dollars for more than
you could use in a long, long time. Practice with this gold leaf before
you buy real gold.
Branwen ferch Emrys
The Mists, the West
--
Karen Williams
branwen at flipper.ras.amdahl.com
From: rayotte at badlands.NoDak.edu (Rayotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Date: 26 Feb 1996 07:03:01 GMT
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Network
WhyteBoar (whyteboar at aol.com) wrote:
: Greetings-
: Can anyone tell me where I can get a 'dog tooth' type burnisher for
: use with gold leaf on scrolls? Thanks much-
: Craig
You could alwasy make one. You would need to find either
1)a real dog's tooth in good shape with the enamel still in very good
shape (I see someone looking for road kill, sorry, but this is how I would
go about it). You could then attach it to a stick with real sinue (it's
got it's own glue don't ya know).
2) Find a lapidary that has a tumbling machine, and that has a
few scraps of agate that was first cut in slabs and then tumbled smooth,
giving you a flat edge, point, and curved edge. Attach this to a stick
(read something you can grip) with a good glue that will work on glass
and wood. The cost should be in the range of $1, $3 if you have to buy
the glue.
Failing that, the lapidary can custom cut, usually for around $15
each) any shape you want.
Horace
From: gray at ibis.cs.umass.edu (Lyle Gray)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Date: 26 Feb 1996 21:25:46 GMT
Organization: CS Dept., Umass-Amherst
Personally, I use a dental tool that I picked up from my dentist for $15...
------------------------------------------------------ NON ANIMAM CONTINE
Lyle H. Gray Internet (personal): gray at cs.umass.edu
Phone: (860) 728-6777, FAX: (860) 247-0249
From: alisoun at bcn.net
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Date: 27 Feb 1996 01:23:53 GMT
Organization: The Berkshire County Network
> whyteboar at aol.com (WhyteBoar) writes:
> But- speaking of other things, as I am quite new to this, I would
> really appreciate hearing some techniques of people that know what they
> are doing, (or at least been successful at it) Are tools other than the
> 'dog tooth burnisher' just as good, or better? What kind of gessoes are
> people having luck with? What are your favorite techniques for flat
> guilding?
I have burnished using a hematite (sp?) burnisher before I got my agate one. I took a 16mm hematite bead, ran a
wire through the holes, twisted the wire tightly and inserted it into a wooden handle. As long as it was
impeccably clean, it worked well. The same is true for the agate burnisher. You can also use an agate bead,
mounted the same way. Cost: probably $1.00 for the bead and the rest was lying about the basement.
I have used a gesso made with slaked plaster, rotten size (rabbit skin glue), armenian bole and a touch of
sugar. It works well when I get the proportions to match our damp weather. Sometimes I don't get them right and
it takes forever to dry.
I have flat guilded with gum arabic, bole and sugar, but again, in this place anything will get sticky if you
exhale vigorously on it. Drying is quite another thing.
I don't really want to talk about PVA guilding, because Alisoun has no clue what PVA is (but it works).
Lady Alisoun Fortescue of Maplehurst
Pat LaPointe in Western Massachusetts
From: powers at news.cis.ohio-state.edu (william thomas powers)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Date: 26 Feb 1996 14:52:40 -0500
Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science
Wolgemuth wrote:
>: me one. The business end was NOT plastic, it was polished agate. The
>: thing cost 60-odd bucks (CDN). None of this was mentionned in the chapter
>: on gold leaf in the friendly illumination book. I bought myself a
>: Teflon-coated spoon-shaped burnisher instead, and it works just fine for
>: me. A. Wolgemuth (Using your plasma cutter....)
Doug Rich replies:
>Yeah, they are a bit of a shock. I can get them for roughly $25-30 US.
> Torin
>
wilem suggests you look at one and then go find a shop that sells
tumbled stones cheap. Look through their supply until you find one
that's about the same shape---probably set you back 25-50 centsUS
Mounting it in a holder can be a bit trickier but copper pipe and epoxy
can help.
wilelm the smith; prompted by thomas the beggar to say "what about road kills?"
From: jartificer at aol.com (Jartificer)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Date: 29 Feb 1996 02:20:03 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
The 'dog tooth burnisher' is a canine's canine tooth mounted on a
stick, although other kinds of teeth were used. Road kill will do fine or
buy a real tooth when you find one for sale, but don't pay a lot, maybe a
dollar or so. You just fasten it to a comfortable wood handle with glue
and a thread wrapping. In period, sealing wax might have been used. You
want a slightly worn tooth that has no sharp edges, chips, or points, is
smooth, hard, and sound, and that will take a good polish. It must be
kept VERY clean, else the gilding will stick or be torn. The curve of the
tooth helps in getting the burnisher on the gilding 'just right'. As
mentioned in other posts, you can buy agate burnishers, which are probably
sized more for the sign gilding trade. You can also use hematite or agate
stones, which you can mount in any way that works. All must be very well
polished, and must be kept very clean.
If there is enough interest, I could make some up.
Master John the Artificer
John Rose
From: afn03234 at freenet2.freenet.ufl.edu (Ronald L. Charlotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Date: 1 Mar 1996 12:27:59 GMT
In <4h3k33$gv6 at newsbf02.news.aol.com>, jartificer at aol.com (Jartificer) wrote:
(deleted excellent advice)
> All must be very well
> polished, and must be kept very clean.
The simple method to keep your burnishers clean and polished is to go to
the hardware store and get a stick of white jeweler's rouge. Take a
scrap of leather or felt and glue it onto a small board (2" wide is
enough by 6" long) rough side up for the leather. Rub the rouge into
the surface and strop your burnishers on it. This will keep such tools
at a high polish. Just wipe off any excess residue with a soft cloth.
I use the same trick for polishing small bone/horn/tooth carvings and
for polishing the edges of my cutting tools after sharpening. If you
want a more period material, a jeweler's supply shop/lapidary supply
will have tin oxide, which is one of the oldest polishing materials.
--
al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris
Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL
afn03234 at afn.org
From: ercil at astrid.upland.ca.us (Ercil C. Howard-Wroth)
Subject: Re: Burnisher for Illumination
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 29 Feb 96 17:17:13 PST
Organization: Private Node
Wolgemuth Andrew G (4agw at qlink.queensu.ca) wrote:
: WhyteBoar (whyteboar at aol.com) wrote:
: : Greetings-
: : Can anyone tell me where I can get a 'dog tooth' type burnisher for
: : use with gold leaf on scrolls? Thanks much-
:
: like plastic to me. I went to the art supply store (I'm sure most big
: art-supply store must carry them), and after some confusion, they showed
: me one. The business end was NOT plastic, it was polished agate. The
: thing cost 60-odd bucks (CDN). None of this was mentionned in the chapter
: on gold leaf in the friendly illumination book. I bought myself a
: Teflon-coated spoon-shaped burnisher instead, and it works just fine for
: me.
:
: A. Wolgemuth (Using your plasma cutter....)
My art supply store has nothing at all. I use one of my son's soft plastic
baby spoons on wax paper over the area to be burnished. (I'm just
a baby scribe) It did do good things to the leaf area though.
Astridhr
From: renscribe at aol.com (Maitresse Yvianne)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 16 Sep 2004 16:49:27 GMT
Subject: Re: Gold leafing
>Now, she used a slightly beaten egg for attachment of the gold leaf.
>What other options are there? Which are period?
Using glair (egg whites) was one of the first methods for attaching gold leaf
to parchment. As time evolved, so did the methods and materials. There are many
different recipes. Some of the more common period ones contain at least one of
the following - fish glue, rabbit skin glue, hide glue, garlic juice, gum
ammoniac,white lead, honey, bole or slaked plaster (which is not plaster of
paris)
My first attempt at gilding was done on glair ... and things have only gotten
easier as I discovered what works best for me. The gesso recipe I use is based
on period recipes and is available at:
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/allthat2/gesso.html
>She also spoke of scribing the gold leaf once attached. I believe this
>was some form of diapering, but I'm not sure....
Period illuminations are full of examples. Newer books show them a little
better than older ones, in which it often appears that a darker gold paint has
been used to make the designs, but really it's a trick of the lighting. The
designs are usually pressed into the gold.
I have used a variety of tools to make designs on top of gildied areas:
a yarn needle
mechanical pencil with the lead removed
decorative rivets
leather tooling stamps
The technique works better with real gold leaf because modern composite leaf
will often break instead of stretch... that being said as an experiment I have
tooled on top of composite leaf... I have also embossed paper painted with gold
gouache. Nothing gives as beautiful results as using real gold on a gesso
ground. :-)
The gesso doesn't have to be very thick for this technique to work. It should
never be any thicker than the paper or parchment you are putting it on and
rarely does it need to be even that thick. All you really need is a smooth
surface to start with.
The longer the gesso sets up, the more likely it is that it won't accept an
impression or crack in the process, so I'd suggest not doing it more than a
week after the gilding... or be willing to risk it.
You'll learn the most from actually sitting down and playing with gilding. It
really isn't expensive.The costs can be a bit deceptive since a packet of gold
leaf isn't cheap ... but you get a lot out of it. Aside from the gold most of
the materials you need can be found in a local hardware or grocery store.
Happy gilding :-)
Maitresse Yvianne
AEthelmearc
From: renscribe at aol.com (Maitresse Yvianne)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 17 Sep 2004 03:22:18 GMT
Subject: Re: Gold leafing
>That's another thing - what is your view on using ungessoed bristol
>vellum paper for gilding?
I don't gesso the full piece like you might do for a panel painting. I'm more
interested in manuscript and document style illumination where gesso is laid
only where you need gold to stick.
Personally I don't use bristol. I prefer watercolor paper or real parchment.
Either one is more forgiving if you make mistakes. For practice though, just
about anything will work.
>So, where do you find your gold leaf? Dick Blick art supplies? Inquiring
>minds....
I've used gold from many sources. I prefer something I have bought in the past
from Master John at Pennsic. It is a 23+kt double Cennini weight. I rarely have
to do touch up and I can gild literally in an open air pavilion during a
thunderstorm. Thinner sheets of gold will work for gilding under less extreme
conditions, but they require a bit more patience.
Yvianne
From: Andy Dingley <dingbat at codesmiths.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Gold leafing
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 14:27:10 +0100
Organization: Codesmiths, UK
On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 12:20:23 GMT, Heather Murray
<margaret at easaraighexpunge.orgorganizethis> wrote:
>Now, she used a slightly beaten egg for attachment of the gold leaf.
>What other options are there? Which are period?
This was usually known as "glair" (sometimes "glaire"). It can be
improved by the addition of a little fresh earwax ! This is the
period technique for gold on illumination, although it does depend a
little on the base material and its flexibility. If flexibility is
needed, honey and gum arabic were used to improve adhesion.
Glair improves on keeping, even when disgustingly "off" !
>She also spoke of scribing the gold leaf once attached.
First of all, these techniques only work with _gold_ leaf, sometimes
with silver leaf, but they work poorly with brass / dutchmetal /
schlagmetal and they don't work at all with modern anodised aluminium
leaf (which is what nearly everyone is using).
Secondly they don't work (well) over oil size and require either glair
or water gilding techniques.
They're hard techniques to learn, because you have to use the
expensive materials. Learn some basic gilding first, where the
aluminium leaf and an easily-handled oil size are OK.
> I believe this was some form of diapering, but I'm not sure....
There are many techniques for working the surface of applied leaf.
Most of them are based on burnishing. This can be either to make the
whole gilded area equally smooth (typical of later Italian work), or
more interestingly to burnish small areas selectively, so as to
develop contrasts.
Burnishers in period were generally large canine teeth (dog), but most
modern workers use agate. Large areas were burnished with haematite,
although this is a little fragile and needs careful looking after. A
burnisher _must_ be in perfect condition.
The ground beneath the leaf makes a big difference to the burnished
result. This could be almost bare wood, or it could be a thick and
shaped layer of gesso. A softer gesso and a small pointed burnisher
allowed a texture to be worked into the finsihed surface. Some
techniques relied on varying the ground then burnishing equally, with
the ground's influence showing through afterwards.
>Would you continue to diaper with your gouache on top of the gold?
In period, this was carefully avoided. Period paints had poor adhesion
over gold and the artists knew this only too well. In cases were it
was done, the results today are often disastrous. Several saints,
Christs and Madonnas had their faces painted over a gilded halo and
the face has now vanished (there's a Sassetta Madonna in Basciano
that's particularly bad) . Some Orthodox icon painters did this
deliberately and with more success. I believe they used an adhesive
interlayer over the paint and before the gold (maybe some variant on
glair), but don't know the details.
Where gilding was over-painted (or appears to be) the Western approach
was to carefully mark the borders of the gilding. A thick gesso
underneath would have the gilding boundary scribed with a needle.
After gilding the gold could be scratched off back to the line, then
painted up to it, directly onto the gesso.
For books, I suggest these two:
"The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting"
a modern summary and quite readable.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0486203271/codesmiths-20>;
and the original "Craftsman's Handbook" by Cennino
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/048620054X/codesmiths-20>;
Both of these are available cheaply from Dover
They also offer Theophilus, which is worth having too.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0486237842/codesmiths-20>;
An excellent modern book on gilding as applied to picture framing is
P Curson's "Framing & Gilding". Lots of useful stuff on gilding of
carved or moulded relief work. Very hard to find, but you can get it
from the Australian publishers at www.skillspublish.com.au
From: Andy Dingley <dingbat at codesmiths.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Gold leafing
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 00:45:49 +0100
Organization: Codesmiths, UK
On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 22:02:28 GMT, Margaret Northwode
<margaret at easaraighEXPUNGE.org> wrote:
>What is bole?
Bole is one of a number of "whitings"; finely powdered inert minerals.
It's used as a thickening agent with glue size, to make gesso.
The original bole is a red clay, originally from Armenia. Because of
this, coloured gesso is also sometimes called bole. Bole also appears
in yellow. You can often control the colour of gold leaf by the
underlying gesso - it certainly helps if you're going to distress the
gilding afterwards.
>Honey, I got. Gum arabic, not so much.... But I can easily find it.
If you're in the UK, I get all such things from "Pan's Pantry"
Pan is a genial chap who pops up at most re-enactor events and also
does web sales. There are plenty of places to get gum arabic (many
artist's suppliers) but Pan also does a nice line in dragon's blood,
which is very hard to find in good quality (you need apothecary's
grade for use as a pigment).
They travel the middle east on buying expeditions for their range of
incenses. I just love the idea of following a trade like that, that
has gone on little changed for literally thousands of years !
>> Secondly they don't work (well) over oil size and require either glair
>> or water gilding techniques.
>
>Water gilding?
Oil size is a varnish / oil mix. It's applied, allowed to go tacky,
then the leaf is applied.
Gesso is animal or vegetable glue, some mix of hide, rabbit skin, fish
glue or glair. It can be used almost immediately, but for work on
furniture it's often allowed to lose its tackiness, then re-activated
with either water (sometimes just breathing on it) or alcohol (vodka
is about the right strength).
Oil size is easier to work with, because it has a longer and
predictable "open time". Water gilding, especially the re-activation
method, is trickier to control.
For burnishing, I find that only the re-activated gesso technique
really works. You need something with the right combination of
"squishy but stable".
>There's a woman with a shop here that sells interesting hematite rings
>and they're very *smooth.*
Rings are probably a bit small, but look for some cabochon stones.
>She showed just adding layered egg "dots" to achieve a textured look on
>the surface, and mentioned that she'd seen it in some German museums.
There's a similar Japanese lacquering technique, known as takamakie.
Tonoko (a fine clay) is mixed into the urushi lacquer to make "sabi
urushi". The difference with gilding is mainly that the same
material is used for both "filler" and "finish".
>what is your view on using ungessoed bristol
>vellum paper for gilding?
What's "bristol vellum paper" ? I don't think either vellum, or paper,
can be used ungessoed. Some hot-pressed papers can be, but they're far
from authentic and they may not be such good surfaces for calligraphy.
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 10:31:15 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - vellum/parchment (OT)
<< Also, if you could ask your
> local friend which type of sizing she uses for her gold leaf, that would be
> great, too. >>
Garlic juice was used extensively to apply gold leaf to illumination in the
middle ages and beyond. It is an excellent medium for that type of work.
Ras
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 23:05:10 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - vellum/parchment (OT)
CBlackwill at aol.com writes:
<< One question, though: is this juice squeezed directly from the
garlic (which IS quite sticky on its own), or is it further processed
somehow?
Balthazar of Blackmoor >>
When we used it at the Scribes Collegium, it was just the pressed out juice.
You apply it to the exact area you want the e leaf to adhere to and then lay
the leaf.
Ras
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2000 19:16:11 -0300
From: dwilson at nbnet.nb.ca (dwilson)
To: <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: RE: making of gold dust of real gold
>Can you help me sir? I want to know the method / process(ancient & modern )
>of making gold dust or gold ink of real gold for painting it on the THANKAS
>(MANUSCRIPTS- handmade pictures used by tibetan) and in statues.
>Mahendra Bir Singh
Answered by Tw
Thanks
Sheepstealer
Take gold leaf and sharp art knife. Cut the leaf into small threads
then cut the threads. Pure gold will weld its self under pressure so
some care must be taken not to undo your work.
When you have the small pieces grind them in a mortar and pestle until
you are down to dust. Then mike with what ever medium you are going to
use as your base paint
Tw
<the end>