The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

Apply the gold leaf to the parts that are sized and have some cotton waste handy with which to rub the leaf down. With a clean piece of cheese cloth, rub the leaf until smooth. Be sure to rub some beeswax onto the cheese cloth so that the cloth will not scratch the gold leaf.

To get the gold leaf into the crevices, use an ordinary clothes brush, rub some wax on the brush, and in that way you save all of the waste leaf. After the gilding is done, go over the leaf with a thin coat of shellac so that the work will not tarnish and can be colored in antique as desired and explained under polychrome.

Schlagmetal may be used for cheaper work instead of genuine gold leaf.

POLYCHROME

Polychroming means a combination of colors, and any number of colors may be employed. In polychroming over metallic or bronzed surfaces, japan colors are used for quick drying. Any number of effects may be obtained by mixing metallic bronzes with colored enamels.

For instance, a lampshade is of black silk, gold and coral. You would wish the stand to carry out the same effect, so gold leaf the stand or bronze it, then trim it with coral and black.

In using japan colors, a thin coat of shellac is put on and then a glazed coat over the entire surface. This is done by mixing burnt umber ground in japan, with a small portion of burnt sienna thinned down with turpentine and wiped off as you see fit, using a piece of cheese cloth dampened in turpentine. Then with a soft brush or powder-puff, apply a coat of rotten stone which will adhere to the glazed coat. Then wipe off the extreme high lights. Another way to get an antique effect is to use burnt umber, mix it with turpentine, then stipple a thin coat of this on the work. Let this dry a few hours and use a piece of cheesecloth dampened in benzine, and wipe off in such a way as to obtain a scratchy effect. After this, brush on a thin coat of shellac or spray on a coat of lacquer. Follow this with a glazed coat of white lead, a little black and a little sienna, all ground in japan colors. Thin this down with benzine and brush it all over the surface and wipe off, leaving the glaze in the crevices.