Gilding consists of fixing a gold leaf to a prepared surface and rubbing it in place. Gold leaf does not tarnish: it lasts for years, giving a true golden look to any wood, metal or plaster base. The luxurious and decadent lives of yesteryear found the need to have almost all the furniture they possessed gilded, something really evident in the 17th and 18th centuries around the world. Today, these beautiful pieces still have the same charm, but for totally different reasons: to be antiques.
Old gold leaf antiques can be cleaned with water containing a few drops of ammonia. New gold leaf can be purchased in plain or transfer sheets that have a fabric backing. Transfer sheets are much easier to use than plain sheets. When applying gold leaf to a restored area, make sure the surface is clean and dry. Paint the base to the Japanese gold size and leave it to get “sticky”. Put the sheets in place, slightly overlapping the edges; rub them carefully, following the direction of the overlap, with a clean cotton cloth until the edges are evenly blended. The trick is to place the sheets on the surface when the size has reached the correct degree of “stickiness”. If the size is too wet, the sheet will wrinkle; if it is too dry, the sheet will not stick.
Today, the value of antiques will depend on whether pure gold leaf or gilt wax was used, as was common practice to reduce the cost of making fine furniture. The other popular alternative, gold paint, while easy to apply, produces a rather garish finish and lacks depth. Wax gilding, available in most art stores these days, comes in many shades of gold. They are ideal for touching up gold leaf damage and for applying a broken gold surface over white or colored paint. They are easy to apply, ensuring that even the clumsiest restorer can restore your prized antique piece. Wax guilt can be easily removed with a turpentine substitute, so a good idea is to protect it with a coat of clear, alcohol-based varnish. Another alternative is the liquid sheet, again easy to apply. It can be brushed or drawn with a pen. It is brighter than gold leaf and does not have the same “antique” finish as wax wax, therefore larger areas may not have the desired effect, especially when restoring your antique piece.
Ormolu is bronze, molded into decorative shapes that are gilded with gold leaf and attached to furniture parts. One form of decoration that developed from ormolu is brass alloy, with the same appearance as gold. The surface of the ormolu often becomes foggy because the brass sweats through the gilding. Clean by brushing the surface gently with soap and warm water containing a few drops of ammonia. To remove stubborn dirt from the surface, add more ammonia. Always wear rubber gloves for this job.
To restore faded or damaged painted antique furniture, scrape the paint to the surface and fill any deep scratches or holes with wood plastic or polymeric texture paste. Rub the area with thin glass paper and repaint, using the matching artists’ oil colors. To achieve a matte finish, use only background paint; cover when dry with a good quality matte varnish. Small areas of old paint texture can be combined using a white base coat as a base. Apply matching colors with artist oil paint, which should always be a shade lighter than the original. When the paint dries, it should match the original shades. A varnish can be applied; however, it is better to varnish the entire area rather than the retouched area. This will give an overall uniform texture to your old piece. The new gloss may be too bright when dry; If so, rubbing it gently with steel wool will give it that aged look.