New Gilding on a Refurbished Coffee Table

 This is something we don't talk about all that often on this blog,  Gilding.  I suppose that is because we don't to it all that often!  This coffee table belongs to a set with an end table and two lamp tables.  This one is the only one with gilding though, so it got some special treatment.  I don't know if you can see very well from this first picture,  but the gilding has turned yellowish and is peeling off all over the place.  


After we refurbished the 4 pieces from the set, we applied a gilding paste to the accents on the carved decorations.  The paste is made out of metals of different colors that resemble various precious metals.  So this isn't real gold on the table, no guests will  be make a profit by flaking it off!  But it looks pretty good doesn't it?

The craft of gold leaf gilding in which leafs of gold are applied to objects for ornamentation, goes back over 4,000 years to Northern Africa where gold foil was applied to wood to give the appearance of being made of solid gold. Some of the finest gilding, however, took place in early 18^th century France when Louis XIV desired to show his power through the gilt works of his time, establishing France’s leadership in the decorative arts.