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Gilded and Lacquered wood
Already in the 1400’s in Venice the profession of 'indorador'
(wood gilder) was considered very honourable and financially
rewarding, and the Venetian 'indoradori' were invited to
work all over Europe.
The production of gilded furniture evolved during the Baroque period
(1600) and after the 1700 also mirrors, chairs and tables were
gilded.
Gilding
consists of laying a 22 carat gold leaf on a preferably lime-tree
wood surface, covering it first with a priming coat made of chalk
and glue.
The priming coat is accurately sandpapered and polished, and then
the 'bolo' is applied, which is a natural mineral adhesive,
of which four layers are given.
Lastly, the gold leaf is applied with a brush, and once the gilding
is dry, it is polished with agate stone.
Also the lacquering wood techniques were used already in the
1600, and consists of applying a layer of coloured chalk on
the surface, and then covering it with a special varnish.
At the end of the 1600's Venice was one of the main centres of
Italian production, and Venetian lacquered furniture was considered
amongst the finest in Europe.
Initially, the colours used in Venice for lacquering where black
and vermilion, with chinoiserie decorations. After the
1700 the lacquer became green and gold.
Although lacquering has some things in common with gilding, one of
the differences between these two techniques is that lacquering
requires a higher lever of artistic skill on behalf of the
artisan.
Gilding and lacquering require an exact procedure to be followed,
and each passage requires a long time, and this of course affects
the final price of the finished product.
Today there are still very few artisans who continue to bring
forward this noble art.
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