Water gilding – the most demanding gilding technique for 5,000 years

Water gilding with gold leaf is a very old technique, which had already been fully developed during the time of the Pharaohs. The technique achieves both matte and solid-looking gold surfaces with a high sheen. This gilding technique requires years of experience with substrates and materials such as glue, chalk and bole/poliment, and is suitable for absorbent substrates such as wood or stucco. Only for indoor use, this gilding technique is now most frequently found on religious statues, picture frames and in church and castle restorations.

Work steps

• Gluing of the substrate
• Priming with gesso
• Application of poliment
• Wetting of the polimented surface
• Gilding with a gilder’s knife, a gilder’s cushion and a gilder’s tip
• Polishing with an agate stone/burnisher

These techniques can be performed together with water gilding

• Punching
• Scuffing of the gold leaf surface
• Tinting of the gilded surface
• Patinating of the gilded surface