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GILDING and ART FRAME RESTORATION ARCHIVE
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Repairing frame before gold leafingFrom: C. Hirzel I have a mirror frame to restore, one of the corners is completely gone (exept for the wood of course) The profile on the frame isn't carved, but made of a sort of chalk, with silkpaper. I made a mold with rubber silicones, to copy one of the corners. But now I don't know what the recepy is of the substance. In europe it's called Pate, I only know two ingredients; chalk and silkpaper. Could you help me with the other ingredients?
Re: Repairing frame before gold leafingFrom: Grace Baggot There are a few binders for traditional water gilding: parchment clippings, rabbit skin glue, fish glue, gelatine. The binder is what is missing from your recipe. We have the fillers - chalk and the fibers from the silkpaper. Pate is not something that I have heard of here in the states but it would be possible to make a pate from the materials you mentioned and one of the above binders. The one recipe I feel confident in is the rabbit skin glue. To make it you soak 2 oz of dry weight rabbit skin glue in 500ml of cold water. Stir and let stand for one hour. The mixture is then placed in a double boiler situation for one hour or untill it dissolves. The temperature should never rise above 120 degrees, optimum being 102 - 104. The purpose of the double boiler is to prevent the mixture from sitting directly on the heating element and to keep the temperature of the mixture consistant. This is call Full Strength Rabbit Skin Glue for gilding purposes. It is usually diluted before making gesso. For hard gesso a ratio of 2 parts RSG to 1 part water adding filler till the mixture has a creamy, brushable consistancy. Soft gesso would be equal parts of Full Strength RSG and Water. To this is added the filler untill a creamy, brushable consistancy is achieved. It would be possible to mix your chalk and silkpaper with a glue mixture somewhere between full strength and hard gesso. You are asking the binder to hold a lot of filler. You wish to make it thicker than brushable consistency. This would bring us to something we call Compo. It is a composition of materials. Used often for architectural decoration. Baggot Leaf Company makes this material and would gladly put ithe recipe on the web but the recipe calls for linseed oil to be heated and colophany rosin to be melted. Both processes are very hazardous. It would take a little time to work out all of the instruction in writing. We also have classes on how to make the material. The draw back to this material is that it does not have the silkpaper you mentioned. It does have chalk, or what is also known as whiting, a calcium carbonate. It looks like pate and is softened for molding purposes by warming it, about to blood temperature. Cast with it, wait for it to cool to room temperature and it can be taken from the mold in minutes. Steam the back of the cast decoration and it will adhere to virtually any surface. The adhesive, a hide glue, is in the compo itself. It only cost $18.00 a pound but must be shipped overnite. After casting the complete curing time for the material is only a day or two and this time cannot be lost in shipping. Compo is shipped overnite. It is suggested that it be cut into usable chuncks and stored (indefinately) in the freezer. The compo is water soluable which can reduce or eliminate sanding. Our compo can be water gilt, omit the gesso and begin with the bole. Should this not be enough info please do not hesitate to let me know and I will see what else i can come up with. Sincerely, Grace Baggot
Re: antique picture frameFrom: Cam Burns Dear Grace, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I have one more question to ask regarding the advice you gave. Will the Renaissance Wax be sufficient to build up and fill in the areas of gesso that are missing and will it dry to a reasonably hard finish or is this strictly a means to provide a finish to mask the damaged areas?
Gold Leaf on Victorian Fireplace corbelsFrom: smooth1950@webtv.net We have a victorian oak firlace mantel that at one time incorperated gilt on two small corbels below the lower mantel. Nothing left at this point but the corbels....Any recommendaion on re-gilting the corbels? I do not know were to go for advice on this one
Re: Gold Leaf on Victorian Fireplace corbelsFrom: Grace Baggot Should they be made of metal that can be electroplated we may have a chance. There isn't a technique otherwise that would stand up to excessive heat. It seems I may be able to answer better if I could have a more details.
antique picture frameFrom: Cam Burns I am looking for information on 'home repairs' to an antique picture frame (wood frame, gesso and gold leaf). I was given an older frame (approximate age 85 years) which has some chips and missing sections on one side. I am not intending to restore this to showroom condition but would appreciate any information you could steer me toward that would be helpful in my efforts to remedy this problem. Cam Burns Kingston, Ontario Re: antique picture frameFrom: Grace Baggot Dear Cam Burns, There are many warnings involved in restoring a water-gilt frame. There is also the need for understanding the water gilding technique which would take a while to explain and time again to get the knack of doing. If we could omit the necessity of redoing the gilding in it's original form but accept making the frame more aesthetically pleasing it would be easier for both of us. Missing elements are usually replaced with wood and carved to shape, then the water gilt surface is applied. Instead of replacing these elements would it be acceptable to you to simply color the damaged areas to match the gilding that exists? If it would be acceptable one could make a paste of wax and mica powder. For wax I suggest Renaissance Wax which is the only wax on the market that does not contain oil. It is not a traditional wax. It is a microcrystalline wax that is used extensively in restoration and conservation. Traditional waxes contain bees wax and/or carnauba wax and both of these contain oil naturally. This oil could be interruptive in the future. The mica powder is a metallic colored pigment. It is completely inert and will not tarnish like bronze powders which are the usual pigment for things like "Treasure Gold" or "Rub-N-Buff" which will tarnish with time. The bronze powders are made mostly from copper and mica powders are not metallic. They are ground rock that have been colored to look metallic. The different mica colors can be mixed to create a color that matches the color of the gold that is on the frame. This treatment would do nothing to harm the frame or prevent future restoration of the frame. If this is not enough info just ask away, I'll be here. framesFrom: az Being a beginner, how can one tell when a frame is painted in bronze or gold, etc.? Re: framesFrom: Grace Baggot The difference between a leafed surface and a gold painted or otherwise gold pigmented surface is the graininess of a pigmented surface. Light will slide across a leafed surface but is interrupted by the particles in a surface coating like gold paint. These particles in the paint are also subject to darkening and tarnishing where gold leaf will not deteriorate from corrosion or change color due to tarnishing. For more information please see my article on Mica on the Association's Home Page under Articles by Members. It will give you more informaiton on gold pigmented finishes. There are other articles to describe different gilding techniques like the article "How Do I Gild It? Let me count the ways..". After you have read these let me know if you have any more questions. I'll be glad to assist.
Picture frameFrom: gawilson@edmail.com I have an antique picture frame with compound joints that are separating. The frame has decorative plaster on the front. Can anyone suggest a reliable person who can help me? Re: Picture frameFrom: Lovejoy If your frame appears to be of pre 1940's vintage and has loose mitre joints the easiest and least damaging way to repair it is to use hide glue as that was the type of glue in use during that period.Hide glue is usually available in art supply shops or mail order houses that sell restorer's supplies ( I get mine from Lee Valley , they provide mixing instructions with your order). Hide glue has the unique ability to rebond when exposed to moisture. The moisture in this case , a injection of hide glue into a loose joint with a hypodermic needle.Once the glue has been injected into the crack quickly squeeze the joint together until the gap is closed . To clamp the joint closed place a painter's grade of masking tape across the back of the mitre joint and wrap it round the front and overlap both ends. If your frame has ornate plaster casting place small pieces of plastercine under the tape where it might stick to the plaster. Let the repair sit overnight to set up, remove the tape and plastercine, any excess glue will curl up and flake off in a couple of days. |