Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/166



Gilding may be broadly understood to mean the application of metals in thin leaf form to decorative purposes, by the use of mordants and vehicles. Originally limited in scope to the application of gold loaf, it has now become a general practice to substitute many kinds of metal, both in imitation of gold, and in order to produce other metallic color effects. This is not altogether to be regretted, as the use of the more precious metal in such a form that it is ultimately totally lost to the community is a deplorable waste, which is not entirely defensible, especially as it draws a large quantity of the metal away from its more legitimate use in the arts of the goldsmith and metal worker. The small proportion used for really high-class decorative work, as in illuminating and permanent decorative schemes and pictures, is in proportion less than one per cent of the enormous amount used for commercial advertising, and the overlaying of plaster and composition picture frames.

The various metals in common use for gilding in the leaf form are:


 * Platinum.
 * Gold, in many degrees of fineness and tint.
 * Alloys of gold and copper.
 * Alloys of gold and silver.
 * Alloys of copper and silver.
 * Alloys of copper and tin.
 * Silver.
 * Aluminium.

The alloys are known as metal d'or, Dutch metal, gold metal, etc. The commonest and cheapest forms are thick and brittle in quality, while the better degrees of gold leaf