Gilding on Metal

This fabulous staircase posed a technical dilemma for Balustrade manufacturers PSL. How do you integrate/weld a silver decorative metal ring into a powdered steel balustrade and have a seamless finish with two different composition metals? 

The solution ? 
They approached me and after creating samples, found the answer .... gilding straight onto the powder-coated metal with a silvery leaf. I could have  created the circles in copper, gold, bronze, or a silvered finish. Gilding create a perfect and crisp finished edge against the steel.

This house in Hampstead had four fabulous floors of staircase balustrading including inner two light wells.  The designer had specified inserting decorative circles of silver inserted to enhance the classical elegant design. Once the balustrades were in place I gilded on site, carefully to get the desired finish, although there were teams of contractors busying around me on other projects. 

Both the the client and designer were thrilled with the final stunning effect. PSL will be happy to include gilding in further projects to create seamless metal effects without the problem of welding different materials.

http://www.pslltd.com

Gilding a bronze leaf ceiling

Having just finished gilding this wonderful ceiling I just had to share some temporary site photos as the leaf was so gorgeous and the ceiling looked fabulous! Once the room is furnished and the concealed lighting in place I can go back for the final shots. 


You can see the subtle colouring from the leaf opposite and the gleam that it gives off. We worked using a scaffold tower and unbelievably didn't get sore necks..... we must have used over 1600 individual leaves of bronzed metal to cover the area.

The leaf is from a new range of colouring for metal leafs from www.goldleafsupples.co.uk and brings a dramatic and bold statement to the overall interior scheme.

Silver gilded bathroom cabinet

This bespoke cabinet and mirror was part of a huge refurbishment in a beautiful house in Wandsworth by Louise Lichfield Design. 

You can see the cabinet whilst work in progress and a corner detail of the mirror moulding before it was finally finished The top photo shows it installed in the bathroom. Louise designed the woodwork and I silvered the items taking great care to layout the leaf design to that it book matched across the drawers.

Small Gilded Repair Work On Site

Something that I am always being called out to do is make very small repairs to gilded pieces on site. Usually they have been damaged in transit but occasionally its a piece thats too big to travel and i need to go to it!

Apart from packing a bag with a hundred and one different potions and materials for all eventualities i arrive and can do most repairs on the spot.

I have travelled all over London, down to Sussex, the Home Counties and across to Essex to do these on the spot repairs.

This bed was finished in a specialised silvery metallic finish which need some careful matching with pigments and finishes. It takes skill and a good eye to match things up and its something i really enjoy, guessing how something was created and duplicating it.




 










This beautiful drinks cabinet was a bespoke piece that has been damaged in transit. You can see the repair work in progress and at the bottom how i matched the moon gold in without a trace. It then was sent on its way to Europe.

Gilded Sculpture commissioned by The Prince Rupert School Germany

This beautiful sculpture was a commissioned project designed by sculptor Alistair Lambert for Prince Rupert School Germany. The plinth in ceramics was made with assistance of the pupils on site.

The Golden Phoenix sculpture was made of separate parts of Aluminium which I then gilded using 23.5 carat gold on all sides. It was then assembled on site by Alistair. You can see the parts laid out ready for him to transport.

The gilding gives the effect of a pure gold sculpture and can be left to the elements without protection or maintenance. It will keep its eternal beauty & glow through many years.

Repairing & restoring Gilded Parcel Mirror

I restored this beautiful Gilded Parcel Mirror. You can see the original condition in the  middle photograph. You can see the white gessoed areas in the bottom photo. These show all the areas I replaced by casting from the original mouldings. Particularly the bottom one was in poor condition with most of it missing. 

I haven't seen such a glorious mirror for a long time. My client kindly wrote:


"Clare has just finished our cushion mirror, it looks just as I imagined it would, all the missing bits are either replaced or remade and the whole rather delicate structure is solid and touchable, but not over gilded.  My husband remembers it from the war years at his grandmother's and says it has never looked so good."

Gilding the Cross for Easter

A new oak cross was carved by George at AJ Bretts Restorers ( lower photo) to hold the beautifully carved Christ which the church had kept safe since it was parted from a damaged previous cross. I then masked the wood and oil gilded the moulded edge with gold leaf. You can see my tools and materials laid out whilst I was working. 

I also gilded the words INRI and rather gingerly gilded the three nails and the wound in Christ's side. The Way of The Cross was very much in my mind as i gilded these last tiny details. The Cross has now been installed above the altar at St James Church in Hyde Park, London ready in time for the climax of the Christian celebrations: Easter and Christ's crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.

Gilding and Changing a wood surface to Silver

 My client wanted to match an existing suite of furniture to a new silvered suite. I was able to transform the old chairs to a silvered finish. As you can see it involved considerable masking of fabric and several layers of preparation. A yellow base coat was chosen with a slight reveal of the base to reveal the undercoat. I finished with a hand tinted seal to change the aluminium leaf to an authentic silver colour. The work was worth it and the fabric was completely intact and unblemished i am delighted to say!! Obviously it is much easier and cheaper to transform things before they are fully upholstered.

Gilded Tabernacle

        

  Finished Tabernacle




A tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" (stored).

This antique tabernacle was in a poor state of condition, understandably after many years of use with deterioration of gold paint & decoration (small top left phot).I cleaned the gold paint back which obscured fragments of gold leaf,  to reveal the raw oak underneath (bottom left photo). Then re-painted the decorative paintwork in traditional colours highlighting the faded intricate detailing which was quite exquisite. I recreated some punched detailing in new gesso before water & oil gilding all remaining areas to give a glorious golden finish. It was was returned to the delighted vicar of St James, Hyde Park in time for Christmas celebrations where it can be seen on the Altar at all times.