Angel gilding is gilding

glass Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...

gold plating Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by chemical or electrochemical plating. This article covers plating methods used in the modern elec ...

by electroless chemical deposition. Gold chloride is dissolved in water, mixed with other chemicals and poured on clean glass that has been treated with

stannous chloride Tin(II) chloride, also known as stannous chloride, is a white crystalline solid with the formula . It forms a stable dihydrate, but aqueous solutions tend to undergo hydrolysis, particularly if hot. SnCl2 is widely used as a reducing agent (in acid ...

. The gold layer is delicate and usually translucent. To make an opaque, affordable and adherent mirror, a layer of silver is deposited over the gold. Glass gilders use the term ''angel gilding'' to distinguish the chemical process from

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

gilding also known as '' verre églomisé''.

History

Justus von Liebig Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at th ...

, widely credited with inventing the modern process for

silvering Silvering is the chemical process of coating a non-conductive substrate such as glass with a reflective substance, to produce a mirror. While the metal is often silver, the term is used for the application of any reflective metal. Process Mos ...

glass, also worked on gilding glass with gold chloride. James Pratt, a British glass worker, was the first to realize that he could make affordable gold mirrors by depositing a layer of silver on top of the gold. He was granted a British patent in 1885. Gold mirrors and gold mirrored signs were very popular in English

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

(pubs) in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

and many wonderful examples of the art can be found all over Britain today. Felix Andres, a sign painter in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, introduced a process for spray gilding glass in 1923, but the fashion for elaborate detail in signs was changing to the modern

neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypt ...

style and his business was not successful.

Stained glass in Chicago

Angel gilding was widely used by Chicago's stained glass studios in the 1920s and 30s to make a distinctive style of stained glass for Chicago's historic bungalows. These

Prairie Style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped ...

windows have a clear glass background with the designs picked out in opalescent glass and double-sided gold mirror. To make the double-side
gold mirror
the studios angel gilded large sheets of thin (1.6 mm, or 0.06 inch) glass. A worker would cut two copies of the desired shape from the glass and place the pieces back to back in a single

came A came is a divider bar used between small pieces of glass to make a larger glazing panel. There are two kinds of came: the H-shaped sections that hold two pieces together and the U-shaped sections that are used for the borders. Cames are most ...

. Because the pieces are gold on both sides, they catch and reflect the light whether the window is viewed from inside the house or from the street.

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

used double-sided angel gilded glass in many of his windows, including the now demolished Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.Hinz, Thomas A ''Frank Lloyd Wright's Stained Glass & Lightscreens'' Gibbs Smith Publisher Layton Utah 2000 p 105

Today

Today angel gilding is used to gild inside blown glass sculptures, repair Chicago's stained glass bungalow windows, create new glass signs and replicate and repair Victorian glass signs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel Gilding Glass art Thin film deposition Metal plating