Laying & fortnight. This final burnishing, when the size is
Burnishing nearly hard, will give it a very lasting polish. It is
Gold well, however, to take every care of burnished gold,
and to secure it from risk of damage as soon as may
be. Illuminated miniatures were often protected by
a piece of silk between the leaves—and this should
be done now, in the case of fine work. That a bound
volume protects the burnished gold within it is
proved by the large number of MSS. in which the
gold, laid and burnished 500 years ago, is in perfect
and brilliant preservation.

REMEDYING FAULTS IN GILDING

To lay and burnish gold satisfactorily requires
considerable experience. Careful practice with a
good “size” (a “home-made” size for preference
—try recipes on pp. 132 and 113) will overcome
the chief difficulties: these, and their probable causes,
are here summarised :—

To make the Size stick to the
Surface.

Clean and pounce thoroughly:
roughen if necessary (pp.

иг, ізз).

Procure or make a proper com¬
position, mix thoroughly
always, and stir frequently
when in use. If composition
is at fault, add—

a. Sticky matter.

Probable Causes of Size no
sticking to Parchment or Paper.

Dirty 'I

Horny or (-Surface.
Non-porousJ

Size not stickyÌ
enough.

Size not tough 1 due to faulty
enough (and (composition,
crumbling or mixing.

off) J

b. Toughening matter.

(pp. 113,132, and Appendix.)

128

T0 make the Gold-leaf stick to
the Size.

Breathe on thoroughly and
avoid delay in laying the
gold (p. 120).

Do not dry too long (p. 117).

A fire with a steaming kettle
having a long tube or spout
will make gilding possible.

More careful pressure (p. 122) :
use thin gold leaf.

See above (p. 128).

Raise the size sufficiently (p.
116). If not enough when
dry, roughen surface and add
another coat.

Try re-gilding (p. 123), or, if
spots persist, scrape them
gently and try again : failing
that, gently scrape off all the
gold and try white of egg
(dilute), or a slight re-sizing.

If the spots are very small and
there is not time to spare
for re-gilding, they may be
touched with powder gold
and dilute white of egg, and
burnished when dry (p. 149).

Probable Causes of Gold-leaf
not sticking to Size.

due to being insuffi¬
ciently breathed on, or
Size the too absorbent na-
too ture or condition of, size,
dry, The dryness of frost or
east wind makes the size
dry, hard, and "difficult."

Not sufficient rubbing and
pressing on of gold.

Size not sticky enough.

Not enough size, particularly
in thin lines and edges.

The gold may refuse to stick in
spots with no apparent rea¬
son, but probably from one
or other of the above causes.
Or the size may have been
touched accidentally and
have become greasy or dirty.

Laying &
Burnishing
Gold

To make the Gold-leaf smooth
and bright.

a. / Allow longer time (p.

b. f 117).

c. Remove size and re-size with
proper composition.

Sometimes this difficulty may
be overcome by using several
coats of gold-leaf (p. 123).

Scrape smooth with sharp
knife. (Sometimes the size
itself is burnished before the
gold-leaf is laid.)

Clean burnisher frequently.

Probable Causes of Gold-leaf’s
not burnishing properly.

Due to—

a. Damp weather.

b. Insufficient time
allowed for dry¬
ing.

c. Too much sticky
matter in size.

Size rough surfaced.

Size

too

sticky.

Burnisher becoming dirty.

129