Recipe

Marjolijn Abbreviated Recipe

Grind red clay with water until it is a viscous paste. Now mix with rsg water solution (1:15). Apply with soft (minnever for instance) brush. Apply about four layers smoothly. polish last layer with your agate burnisher until shiny and very smooth.

Ms. Fr. 640 Recipe (see bold)

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<id>p006r_1</id>

<head>To lay down and set burnished <m>gold</m> and give red or green or blue</head>

<ab>

<m>Ceruse</m> and <m>lead white</m> is not appropriate for polished white nor for burnishing because it is fat, but it is quite good for matte <m>gold</m>, which is made with <m>oil</m>[by] mixing it with yellow <m>ochre</m> and <m>mine</m> and tempering the whole with <m>oil</m>, and this matte <m>gold</m> so applied lasts in the rain as <m>gilded</m> <m>leadworks</m> and similar things [do]. Therefore for burnished <m>gold</m> take some good <m>chalk</m>, quite white, well ground and soaked with <m>distemper glue</m> and with it, make four coats one after the other on the <m>wood</m>. And the last being dry, rub it with <m>horsetail</m>, which is an herb differently named <m><al>horse</al>tail</m>, to render it well polished. Afterwards, take some fine <m><pl>Armenian </pl>bole</m> and some <m>sanguine</m>, as much of one as of the other, [and] also <m><al>lamb </al>tallow</m> the size of a <m>bean</m> or a <m>pea</m> depending on the quantity of <m>bole</m> and a little bit of <m>willow charcoal</m> or as much as of <m>tallow</m> and half a <m>walnut shell</m> filled with half-burned <m>saffron</m>; some put in a little <m>candi sugar</m>. Grind everything together with <m>water</m> and apply it without <m>gum</m> or <m>glue</m> and let it dry and rub the place that you would like to <m>gild</m> with a piece of white cloth to better unify [it] and when the rubbed place is a little shiny it is a sign that the <m>gold</m> will be well. Having rubbed, wash the place that you want to <m>gild</m> with a clean brush soaked with clear <m>water</m> and promptly apply the <m>gold</m> which you will burnish once dry. And if you want to set some <m>rouge clair</m> and glaze it, grind some <m><pl>Venice </pl>lake</m> on the <m>marble</m> with some <m>walnut oil</m> or <m>linseed<sup> oil</sup></m>. Once ground mix some <m>turpentine varnish</m> or <m>spike lavender<sup> varnish</sup></m> and apply; on <m>gold</m>, [when applied] with the brush, <m><pl>brazil</pl>wood</m> and <m>laque ronde</m> fade away. For green, temper <m>verdigris</m> with <m>walnut oil</m> or <m>linseed<sup> oil</sup></m> and grind it, then mix in some <m>turpentine varnish</m> and not <m>aspic<sup> varnish</sup></m> which is not suitable for <m>verdigris</m>. If you want to glaze with <m>azure</m> it has to be set on burnished <m>silver</m> and take <m>azur d’esmail</m> and without grinding mix it with <m>turpentine varnish</m> and apply.

</ab>

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Materials

Material

Source

Panel (prepared with bole)

Lab Inventory: SE

Gold leaf

Lab Inventory

Water (tap)

Lab Inventory

Rabbit skin glue

Lab Inventory

Grain Alcohol (ethanol)

Lab Inventory

Tools

Tool

Source

Newspaper

Lab Inventory

1000 grain sand paper

Lab Inventory

Burnisher (agate)

Lab Inventory

Humidifier

Lab Inventory

Double boiler apparatus

Lab Inventory

Cardboard Panels

Lab Inventory

Gilder’s cushion

Lab Inventory

Tweezers

Lab Inventory

Gilder’s Knife

Lab Inventory

Gilder’s tip

Lab Inventory

Paintbrush

Lab Inventory

100ml glass beaker

Lab Inventory

Pipette

Lab Inventory

Work Station

Procedure/ Work Flow: Gilding

  1. Place down newspaper
  2. Place panel on newspaper
  3. Use 1000 grain sandpaper to smooth the surface of the squares prepared with bole
  4. Remove newspaper and clear off excess bole residue In trash or non- hazardous solid waste
  5. Replace newspaper, put panel back onto the newspaper
  6. Carefully use the burnisher to further smooth the surface of the bole
  1. Listen for a change in the sound of the texture of the bole
  1. Heat 1:10 rabbit skin glue (rsg)
  1. Place in a double boiler with a thermometer and watch carefully until it is between 40 - 60 C.
  2. (As one partner is sanding the panel, the other can attend to the rsg to ensure it doesnt over heat)
  1. Make sizing glue in a 100 ml glass beaker:
  1. 20ml water
  2. 5 ml grain[a] alcohol[b]
  3. 1 drop[c] rsg[d]
  1. Put on humidifier
  2. Prepare the gilding screen to cover panel area etc
  1. Take three cardboard panels and stand them up lengthwise on the table top (this is to prevent any dramatic changes in air pressure around the gilding station)
  2. Place gilder’s cushion and bole prepared panel on the table top
  3. Prepare the gilder’s cushion (I’m not completely sure how this works but from the photo it looked like the cushion was placed on the table and  then a small protective shield was placed around it)
  1. Remove gold leaf from packaging
  1. Using tweezers?
  1. Use gilder’s knife to carefully transfer the gold leaf to the cushion
  1. Be sure that no one is walking by or otherwise producing wind in the vicinity
  1. Use gilders knife to cut the gold leaf on the cushion into four equal squares
  1. Use a firm pressing motion and a very slight sawing motion at the end to separate the delicate gold leaf
  2. Be sure to move knife slowly as the leaf may attach to the knife or be picked up by the wind produced by it
  1. Take gilder’s tip and rub it on the inside of our wrist, behind the ear, or across the forehead in order to create static
  2. Light tap one edge of one of the gold leaf squares you have created
  3. Have your partner apply sizing glue to the square panel with a paintbrush
  4. Lightly place the gold leaf on the sized panel square
  5. Use burnisher to carefully smooth the surface of the gold leaf.
  6. Use gilder’s brush to remove excess gold[e][f] 
  7. Repeat steps 14-18 for each square of gold leaf created.
  8. Dispose of sizing glue in Non-hazardous liquid waste
  9.  Wash paintbrush with soap and water in the sink (non - toxic materials)
  10. Place panel on bench top and allow to dry pack and store cushion, knife, gilder’s tip, and protective panel in appropriate places
  11. Dispose of newspaper
  12. Wipe down tabletop

Material 

Grain Alcohol

Red bole

Rabbit Skin Glue

Gold Leaf

Waste Management Plan

[a]is this just ethanol?

[b]grain alcohol = ethanol

[c]How big is a 'drop'? Pipettes are not very precise. Does this require a precise measurement?

[d]a drop from the pipet will do

[e]Not completely clear on this step. Does this come before burnishing? Do we have a collection procedure for the excess gold leaf since I assume we don't want to just throw it away.

[f]There is a vial for excess gold leaf in the gold leaf drawer

[g]BOTH CAN BE DISPOSED OF DOWN THE DRAIN OR IN THE TRASH