[Illustration: A Gilder’s Workshop.]
When once the house is built and the work of bricklayer, carpenter,
plumber, painter, glazier, and mason is finished, it is necessary to set
about those decorations which accompany the furnishing; and one of the
first of the trades needed for this purpose is that of the Gilder, who
has to do not only with cornices, mouldings and other ornaments, but
also with the frames of pictures and looking-glasses that adorn the walls
and chimney-pieces.
These frames, however, have first to be made by the joiner, and then
receive the work of the carver, or the ornament maker. The joiner does
little more than put the plain groundwork of the frame together; but the
duty of the carver is of a very artistic description; and to be a good
carver in wood requires an education and a taste very nearly equal to
that of the sculptor, with whom the artists in wood formerly held a high
rank.
Most of the ornaments now used for frames, however, are less expensive
than those formerly produced by the carver who added a fresh value to
the painting or the looking-glass by exercising his skill upon the
costly settings in which they appeared. Composition ornaments are now
in general demand for all but the most expensive frames, and as this
composition—which is formed of glue, water, linseed oil, resin, and
whiting—is pressed into moulds when it is of about the consistence
of dough, it is evident that the mould maker has partially taken
the carver’s place. A new substance, however, has to a great extent
superseded the old composition, and this is _papier-mâché_, or the pulp
of paper (literally, mashed or beaten paper), which, from its lightness,
its greater strength and durability, and the thinness to which ornaments
made of it can be reduced, is preferable for all large decorations.
Whatever may be the size or pattern of the frame, however, we will
suppose that the ornament maker received it from the joiner, who puts it
together after it has been covered with coatings of hot size and whiting;
the size being made from parchment cuttings or kid leather parings
boiled to a sort of jelly. The nail or screw holes are then filled up
with putty by the help of the putty knife, and the surface of the frame
smoothed with pieces of pumice stone. The ornament maker next fixes on
the decorations and hands it to the Gilder, whose first business is to
wash the ornaments carefully in order to remove any oil that may have
remained on their surface from the inside of the cast.
[Illustration: Size. Whiting. Putty Knife. Badger Tool. Duster. Gold Leaf
Knife. Cushion. Tip.]
The principal tools required by the Gilder are, first: the _cushion_,
which is a flat board covered with several layers of woollen or flannel
and afterwards with a piece of leather, which is stretched tightly over
it and nailed down to the edges, thus forming a firm but soft and
elastic bed. A rim of parchment carried round one end of the cushion
serves to hold the gold leaf. Second: a _gold leaf knife_—which is a
straight smooth-edged instrument, not very sharp, but carefully pointed
at the end. Third: the _tip_—a tool generally made of two pieces of
card or very thin board glued together and holding between them a row
of camel’s hairs. It is also necessary to have a _badger tool_ and a
_duster_; the first for removing the loose edges and flying scraps of
gold leaf, after the gilding is completed, and the latter for brushing
away dust from the frame.
[Illustration: Miniature Burnisher. Burnisher. No. 1. Burnisher. No. 2.
Burnisher. No. 3. Chisel. Putter-down. Gold Leaf Box.]
The _burnishers_ are pieces of smooth stone (flint or agate) set in
handles, and are used for rubbing some parts of the gold, when it is
set on the frame, until it attains a brilliant polish and smoothness of
surface: the bright gold portions of a frame being known as _burnish_,
and the dull parts or “dead gold” as _matt_.
A _chisel_ and _knife_ are necessary for removing any inequalities or
overflowings of size from the edge of the frame; the _feather duster_ is
used to dust the new gilding before it is sent home; the _size pot_ is
the vessel in which the size is melted, and the _pan_ receives it before
it is laid on. The _putter-down_ is a large soft brush used for pressing
down the gold into the ornaments, and removing the ragged edges of the
gold-leaf from those parts of the frame where it is most difficult to
place it smoothly.
[Illustration: Feather Duster. Size Pot. Pan. Gold Book.]
The _gold box_ is of course a receptacle for the gold leaf, and as the
leaf is sent from the gold beaters in sheets placed between leaves of
paper sewn together like a volume, this is naturally called the _gold
book_.
Having received his frame, then, the Gilder first gives it two or three
coatings of “thin white,” which is the name by which the size and whiting
is known in the trade. If any part of the frame is to be burnished, it
afterwards receives a coat or two of rather thicker size.
When these are dry, strong warm size is laid on with a brush; this
is called _clear cole_, and produces a smooth glossy surface, which
prevents the _oil gold size_ from sinking through. Oil gold size is the
next coating given to the frame, and it is made of ochre and boiled
linseed oil, ground up together into a smooth creamy liquid, which is
thinned with more boiled linseed oil, and put on very carefully with
a soft brush. In a few hours, after the oil gold size is put on, it
is sufficiently dry to receive the gold leaf; the surface being then
slightly sticky, so that it will hold it firmly and without its own
surface being disturbed.
[Illustration: Pipkin. Rule. Gold Size Pot.]
The Gilder now commences the most important part of his work by taking
the cushion on his left hand, with his thumb through a loop which is
attached to the bottom of the leather; between the fingers of the same
hand he places the tools that he will have to use,—namely, the tip, the
gold knife, and the camel-hair pencil. He then takes a gold book and
carefully blows out a leaf at a time on to the cushion, until he has
eight or ten leaves all heaped together within the rim of parchment which
holds them from flying away. This is a very delicate operation, since if
he should blow too hard the leaves would be carried all over the room.
He next separates one of the leaves from the rest with his knife, and
without cutting or tearing it lays it down smoothly upon the front part
of the cushion, partly by a gentle use of the knife itself, and partly
by skilfully blowing upon it. Then taking the tip in his right-hand he
carefully presses it on the leaf, to which it adheres, and by this means
transfers it to that part of the frame where he is at work. Where the
ornaments are very deep, the same part is gilt three or four times over,
and the gold is sometimes pressed in with a wad of cotton.
[Illustration: Skewing Brush. Small Pencil.]
After the whole surface is carefully _skewed_, or gone over with the
brush which removes the ragged edges and still further presses the gold
into the ornaments, the frame is well dusted with another soft brush, and
then sized with clear size, after which the work is complete.
Supposing however that any part of the frame is to be of burnished gilt,
the clear cole and the oil gold size must not be suffered to touch that
portion,—burnish gold size, a substance made of grease, clay, black lead,
red chalk, and bullock’s blood, is used instead of the oil gold size.
Several coats of this are laid on the part to be burnished, each being
allowed to dry, and perfectly smoothed, before the other is applied. The
surface is then washed with a sponge and clean water, another coating of
gold size is laid on, the gold leaf is applied, and the burnishing tools
used to impart the required lustre.