gold leaf

gold leaf
gold-leaf, adj.
gold in the form of very thin foil, as for gilding.
[1720-30]

* * *

art
      extremely thin sheet of gold (about 0.1 micrometre, or 4 millionths of an inch, thick) used for gilding. Medieval illuminated manuscripts gleam with gold leaf, and it is still widely used for gilding ornamental designs, lettering and edgings on paper, wood, ceramics, glass, textiles, and metal.

      The process of pounding fine gold into leaf is known as goldbeating and has undergone little change since antiquity. It begins with a small ingot, cast from gold alloyed with small amounts of silver and copper, that is rolled into a long ribbon having a thickness of only about 0.025 mm (0.001 inch). The ribbon is then cut up into squares about 3 cm (1.3 inches) on a side, and these are placed between sheets of heavy paper and enclosed in a sheepskin; they are then hammered until the squares are 10 cm (4 inches) on a side. Each square is then cut into four equal parts, repacked between parchment, and beaten again, with the process repeated successively until the leaves of gold have been reduced to a thickness of about 0.001 mm. They are then trimmed to squares of about 8.5 cm (3.4 inches) on a side and are put in book form between sheets of tissue paper; each book contains 25 gold leaves, which are so delicate that they can be moved or straightened with a light breath.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gold leaf — Gold Gold (g[=o]ld), n. [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G. gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gul[thorn], Russ. & OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. [root]49, 234. See {Yellow}, and cf. {Gild}, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Chem.) A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gold leaf — n [U] gold which has been beaten into extremely thin sheets and is used to cover things such as picture frames for decoration …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • gold leaf — noun uncount gold in the form of thin sheets, used for covering the surface of objects …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • gold leaf — gold′ leaf′ n. jew gold in the form of very thin foil, as for gilding …   From formal English to slang

  • gold leaf — ► NOUN ▪ gold beaten into a very thin sheet, used in gilding …   English terms dictionary

  • gold leaf — n. gold beaten into very thin sheets, used for gilding …   English World dictionary

  • gold-leaf — gold leafˈ transitive verb • • • Main Entry: ↑gold …   Useful english dictionary

  • gold leaf — plėvelinis auksas statusas T sritis chemija apibrėžtis Skaidriu geltonu laku nulakuota Al–Ag lydinio plėvelė. atitikmenys: angl. artificial gold leaf; gold foil; gold leaf; leaf gold rus. листовое золото; сусаль; сусальное золото …   Chemijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • gold leaf — plėvelinis auksas statusas T sritis chemija apibrėžtis 0,05–0,3 μm storio Au ar jo lydinio su Ag ir Cu plėvelė. atitikmenys: angl. gold foil; gold leaf; leaf gold rus. листовое золото; сусаль; сусальное золото …   Chemijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • gold leaf — N UNCOUNT Gold leaf is gold that has been beaten flat into very thin sheets and is used for decoration, for example to form the letters on the cover of a book …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”