I will now proceed to give a list and description of the various
implements and materials which are required in the process of gilding
picture frames.
1.—A GILDING CUSHION, on which to lay the leaves of gold preparatory to
cutting them into the sizes required for laying. This may be procured
already made. It is made of a board one-half inch thick and nine and
one-half inches long by five and one-half inches wide, covered with
buckskin and padded with several thicknesses of Canton flannel. It
usually has a shield of parchment, about four inches high, on one end,
to protect the leaves from currents of air. Underneath, is a loop for
the thumb, which is to be inserted in it when the cushion is to be held
in the hand. There is also another loop to hold the gilding knife when
not in use.
2.—A GILDING KNIFE, for cutting the gold leaf. It should be double-edged
and have a tolerably keen edge; not so much so as to cut the cushion,
but sufficiently so to divide the leaf without tearing it. When it
becomes dull it may be readily sharpened by rubbing the edges with a
piece of very fine sand paper.
3.—BRUSHES, both bristle and camel’s hair. Numbers 4 and 5, of the
bristle brushes, flat, are the sizes mostly required, either for
applying the white coat or the oil-size. For the camel’s hair brushes,
numbers 4, 5 and 6 are very useful, as well as a number 6 or 8 lettering
pencil (brush); also several fitch blenders, numbers 9 and 10 are good
sizes; procure one of each.
4.—BURNISHERS. These must be of several shapes and sizes. Every gilder
will become accustomed to some particular shape and size, and practice
only will determine the most desirable one; but for ordinary use, the
following _shapes_ and _sizes_ will be found sufficient for almost any
work:
[Illustration: Three burnishers of differing thickness and shape,
particularly the tapering of the tip]
The burnishers should be made of flint, though agate is frequently used,
particularly for burnishing silver leaf. They should be securely
fastened in wooden handles by means of brass ferrules. These handles, as
well as the stones, frequently become loosened from continual use and
require refastening. This is done by renewing the filling with gum
shellac or powdered rosin, and applying sufficient heat to set the
stones. On cooling, they will be found to be again firm in their
sockets. The same method may be pursued with regard to the handle. A
little brick-dust mixed with the rosin gives a more secure hold.
Burnishers, contrary to the general opinion of those who manufacture and
sell them, should not be too highly polished, but the surface should be
rather dull, as in this condition they take a better hold on the gold.
If they have too much polish, they glide over the leaf without
burnishing it. The polish may be subdued or removed by rubbing the
burnishers with crocus martis and oil spread upon a chamois-skin. Care
must, of course, be exercised in the operation, or too much of the
polish will be removed and the burnisher will require to be repolished.
It is, perhaps, needless to say that the burnishers should be kept
scrupulously clean and free from everything like moisture and grease.
5.—TIPS. These are made of both camel’s hair and badger hair. They are
used to lift the gold leaf from the cushion, after it has been suitably
cut, and to apply it to the surface prepared to receive it. When they do
not freely take up the leaf, it is customary to pass them across the
hair of the head, when they receive sufficient electricity from it to
attach the gold at once to them. This attraction has been attributed to
the moisture which the tips receive from the hair, but I think the
notion is a mistaken one. The tips evidently become electrified, for
they will, in that condition, attract the gold at some distance off.
Moisture would not produce this effect. The camel’s hair tips are the
best to use. Several of them will be required. It is a good plan to cut
an old one down to within an inch and a half of the paste-board handle,
and so use it, when very narrow slips of the leaf are being used; they
can be lifted better and more safely with such a contrivance. In all
cases, the tip should not be applied to more of the gold to be raised by
it than is actually necessary for the purpose.
6.—SOME GLUE, of the best white quality. Many gilders use gelatine
instead of glue. For mixing with the burnish-size, the gelatine is
undoubtedly the more desirable. The glue should be naturally white, not
artificially so-colored; and it should be free from all grit and
sediment. Cooper’s make, of both glue and gelatine, is undoubtedly the
best, for all purposes of gilding. It acts more uniformly and is
altogether the most reliable.
7.—PIPE CLAY, for coating the composition parts of the frame. It usually
comes in lumps and must be allowed to soak before mixing. The pipe clay
has superseded the use of whiting for the two primary white coats to a
frame. It is free from all grit, whilst whiting is not, and it gives a
soft, smooth surface for the layer of gold leaf.
8.—PARIS WHITE, or whiting. This is used for stopping up holes and other
imperfections in the frame. It has more body than the pipe clay, and for
that reason is used instead of it. Paris white is simply whiting
precipitated in powder, and it is consequently freer from grit and other
impurities.
9.—OIL-SIZE. This is used for giving the adhesive coat to which the gold
is applied when laid in oil.
10.—BURNISH-SIZE. Used for giving the coat to which the gold is applied
when a burnished surface is required.
11.—COTTON BATTING, of a good quality. This is used for pressing down
the gold leaf when it is being laid in oil.
12.—GOLD LEAF, of the best quality of deep-colored gold. The leaf comes
done up in books of twenty-five leaves each, and made into packs of
twenty books each.
13.—AN OX-GALL, strained into a bottle, with about two teaspoonfuls of
carbolic acid to preserve it from decomposition. This, mixed with the
white coat and the clear size, will prevent pin-holes and frothing. Some
gilders use alcohol and even spirits of turpentine for this purpose;
vinegar has also been recommended, but, after a thorough trial of all of
them, I feel confident that the best results will be had with the
ox-gall.
14.—CARBOLIC ACID. The crystallized form is the best to use. It comes in
bottles of a pound weight. It must be melted by placing the bottle in
hot water; and, when the fluid condition takes place, add some water,
when the whole mass will remain fluid. This is a perfect antiseptic and
very useful to mix with the glue and gelatine, which are thereby
preserved from decomposition.
15.—SAND PAPER; numbers 0, ½ and 1.
16.—ALCOHOL, of the highest proof. This is used in laying the gold leaf
which is to be burnished.
17.—JAPAN gold size.
18.—SHELLAC VARNISH, both the brown and the white.