Gold Leafing
Leaf it to us!
Coffey and Thompson, since 1946.
We are happy to bring to you water and oil gilded, gold leaf frames! This has been added to our repertoire of services thanks to our lovely Apprentice Framing Specialist, Anna Gawley, who has been studying and practicing water gilding, which we are now offering to you.
Now... Do you know what gold leaf even is?
Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-karat yellow gold. Gold leaf is a type of metal leaf, but the term is rarely used when referring to gold leaf. The term metal leaf is normally used for thin sheets of metal of any color that do not contain any real gold. Pure gold is 24 karat. Real, yellow gold leaf is approximately 91.7% pure (i.e. 22-karat) gold. Silver colored white gold is about 50% pure gold. Layering gold leaf over a surface is called gold leafing or gilding. Traditional water gilding is the most difficult and highly regarded form of gold leafing. It has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years and is still done by hand.
It truly is our honor to have such a talented artist, Anna Gawley, to bring and offer this to our lovely customers.
Now that we know what gold leaf is....
Do you know what water gilding is?
Water gilding is a process which makes wood look like gold!
It follows the stages involved in gilding a wooden frame – from brushing on layers of gesso (glue and chalk mixture), to applying and burnishing the gold leaf!
Going off that thought, what is oil gilding?
Oil gilding is the process of using an oil-based sticky adhesive, with the consistency of varnish - to adhere the gold to the surface!
To learn more about Ms. Gawley, feel free to check out our artists or employee pages!
Contact us to schedule an appointment!
