RAISED GILDING UNDER THE BY JERRY TRESSER MICROSCOPE

RAISED GILDING UNDER THE
MICROSCOPE
BY JERRY TRESSER

Figure 1. Provides a clear picture of slaked plaster of Paris/hide glue combined and examined microscopically. The needle-like formations are very
characteristic of slaked plaster of Paris. In Figure 1, the slaked plaster and the hide glue have been mixed as part one of a two-step process. The glue
binds the plaster, forming an exceptionally tight bond.

Why Is Raised Gilding with certain variables. It is simple – you brilliant gold in a border, and the The Book of the Art of Cennino
Traditional Materials So just don’t adjust the recipe.You are like. Some have said that the light Cennini, and again by Daniel V.
Problematic? not a master violist interpreting a reflected from this mirror-finished Thompson in 1933.
musical score; you are in the lab, gold is the reason we called the
I will answer that question later making another batch. illustrations, illuminations, and the From Jerringham’s translation,
in the article, but first I want to manuscripts, illuminated manu- “Then you must have a paint that
assure you that raised gilding does I may have gotten ahead of scripts. is a sort of gesso called asiso (gesso
not have to be fraught with uneven myself, however. I can often charge for gilding), and it is made in this
results and frustration. The key is ahead because I am very passionate In the twentieth and twenty first manner: namely a little gesso sotille
in the gesso.You need to have the about this subject. centuries, Donald Jackson, and (slaked plaster of Paris) and a little
correct ingredients in your gesso, other scribal artists, has continued biacca (white lead), never more of
keep to the proper proportions, and Modern day calligraphers have the tradition of using raised (and this than equals a third part of the
mix the ingredients in the proper taken to replicating the illumina- flat) gold in manuscripts. The style gesso; then take a little candy (rock
order. If you are consistent in your tions from Medieval and Renais- of the paintings may have changed, candy) less that then biacca: grind
gesso preparation, you can expect sance manuscripts and duplicating but for consistent results the recipe these ingredients very finely with
consistent results. Gesso is made the raised gold decoration. The for gesso has not. clean water, collect them together,
to a formula.You do not need years illuminators of those manuscripts and let them dry without sun.” (The
of practice in the craft of gilding adhered gold leaf to a very smooth The formula I use today comes words in parenthesis are mine.)
to know how to adjust the recipe. raised surface to form a halo around from Cennino d’Andrea Cennini in
You should not have to account for the head of Christ, bright gold his fourteenth century treatise titled The formula was 8, 3, 1, 1, 4: eight
letters, a background of a vignette Il Libro Dell’Arte, as translated by parts of slaked plaster of Paris, three
in an illuminated letter, dots of Christiana J. Jerringham in 1899, parts white lead (lead carbonate,

34 Bound & Lettered Winter 09

Figure 2. Concavity in the letter A. Figure 3. Gesso cracking.

which is poisonous), one part sugar, each preparation. This will ensure asiso (gesso) will be a flat dry cake of Secreta provided the following
one part hide glue, four parts water, that the gesso when reconstituted at the bottom of the tin box; and information to the gilder:
and a pinch of Armenian bole for can be duplicated whenever needed. since the glue will have tended to
color. The proportions are by vol- The hallmark of any formula is its dry to the sides and the lead prob- “When attempting to work at a
ume (teaspoons, tablespoons, etc.), ability to duplicate results. ably to sink to the bottom one needs time of low humidity and waiting
not by weight. Every ingredient to take care to cut the piece from for more favorable conditions is
(chemical) in the recipe (formula) Why is Raised Gilding with top to bottom that one may rely on impossible, it helps to put the work
would have a particular function Traditional Materials So having the due proportions of the in the refrigerator.”
(chemical obligation). Cennini gives Problematic? ingredients” (Lettering).
us info on how to mix the gesso: “Adjustments may have to be
It’s Graily Hewitt’s fault. Graily The chemicals continued to move made in the glue and sugar pro-
“Almost invariably size (glue) Hewitt, a student of Edward each time the gesso was reconsti- portions to compensate for local
was mixed with the gesso grosso, Johnston, provided his explanation tuted.When the gesso was used, the climatic conditions.”
with the gesso sottile always” (The of Cennino d’Andrea Cennini’s foundation was constantly being
Book of the Art of Cennino Cen- formula in the last few chapters of compromised. Once the water began “1) The gesso itself was improp-
nini). Gesso sottile – slaked plaster his book Lettering for Students and to evaporate, the glue moved. The erly ground. 2) During the applica-
of Paris – was mixed with hide glue Craftsmen (1930). His book was result was cracking and breakdown tion, the gesso was not stirred often
as an independent part of the total the basis for study of manuscript of the gesso. (See Figure 1 and enough. 3) As the base sits, the
formula. Once dried, the plaster/ gilding for decades and his recipe, Figure 2.) The fish glue would move ingredients settle, with the heavier
hide glue was put into brick form with some variations, was printed to the sides of the gesso, making elements sinking to the bottom. 4) If
and sold through apothecaries to in subsequent books, includ- it almost impossible for the gold not stirred frequently the gesso will
gilders and painters.When used for ing The Calligrapher’s Handbook to adhere to the face of the gesso. be unbalanced. 5) The weather was
gesso preparation, the plaster/size and Secreta. Unfortunately, he got The movement of the white lead in to dry. 6) Press down on the gold
bricks became part one of a two- Cennini’s formula wrong. Genera- Hewitt’s one-step method would with as much pressure as possible.
step process. tions of gilders have been affected. cause continuous concavities in the (Sometimes standing helps to give
Hewitt’s errors: He used fish glue center of the gesso, and in turn it more leverage.) The gold should
Why a two-step process? The hide instead of hide glue, and he mixed would weaken the structural foun- adhere” (Secreta).
glue and the slaked plaster need to all the ingredients together at one dation, cause cracking, and, unless
react together without the interfer- time instead of the critical two-step so overloaded with sugar or glue to Hewitt’s unsatisfactory formula
ence of the other ingredients. (See process. accept any gold, make burnishing produces many discussions about
Figure 1.) The two-step process impossible. Figure 2 shows a con- when things go wrong than when
requires part one of the gesso to Here are some of the common cavity on the cross bar of the letter things go right.We’re faced with
dry before adding part two. The problems that have been encoun- A. The deep concavity on the left overcompensation of materials
glue binds the plaster, forming an tered by those following Hewitt’s side is similar to an implosion. The in order to get the gesso to accept
exceptionally tight bond, and the formula: gesso begins to cave in as the mix the gold, and a constant altering
materials of part two, once added, begins to separate. This is directly of the formula to satisfy weather
complete the process. The gold won’t adhere to the attributable to the water/fish glue conditions and to increase the glue
gesso. moving to the sides of the gesso. content to ensure the adhesion of
This gesso works well when it The center of the gesso collapses. the gold.We’ve created East Coast
is prepared correctly. It provides The gesso cracks. This is consistent with a major formulas (for humid conditions)
consistency when broken up into a structural problem that cannot be and West Coast formulas (for dry
powder or better yet, ground into The gesso has a concave surface. fixed by scraping. The foundation conditions).
coarser granules, and measured has been corrupted.
with a spoon or weighed with a One cannot burnish the gold to a Nothing in this article diminshes
gram scale. The number of water mirror finish. With Hewitt’s recipe the author the exceptional gilding achieve-
drops or glair can be noted with ments over the past decades. These
Hewitt realized very early that his achievements, however, have been in
formula was constantly in flux.“The spite of Hewitt’s formula.

Bound & Lettered Winter 09 35

CREDITS/CONTRIBUTORS

Inge Bruggeman lives and works in Judin Books. For more information, focused more on his career as a graphic sions for exhibit at Washington National
Portland, Oregon. She is a faculty member email ninajudin@gmail.com, visit artist until his retirement in 2007. His em- Cathedral in Washington, D.C. “Circles and
at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, ninajudin.com, or write Dusartstraat bossing has been widely exhibited, most Spirals,” page 12.
where she teaches in the Book Arts depart- 12 sous, 1072HR Amsterdam. recently at Queens (N.Y.) Museum of Arts,
ment. She also runs Textura, a letterpress “Nina Judin Gallery,” page 26. Brownson Art Gallery in Westchester, N.Y., Heather Watkins is an artist and designer
printing and book arts business. Inge and Hammond Museum in North Salem, whose work runs from professional book
publishes limited edition, fine press artist’s Pat Gill has been involved in the book N.Y.View more samples of Suhas Tavkar’s and print design to more personal, experi-
books under her imprint INK-A! Press, arts, painting, and calligraphy for more artwork at www.nakhachitra.com. For mental, and exploratory applications of
and she also makes a variety of text based than a decade. She returned to the arts any inquiries, please feel free to call 718- the book form, printed matter, sculpture,
artwork. Her work is shown and collected in mid-life, having spent the majority of 831-6651 or e-mail suhas@nakhachitra. and fibers. Her artist’s books, drawings,
internationally, and her work is owned by her professional life in the sciences, first com. “NakhaChitra: The Art of Fingernail and mixed media installations draw upon
institutions such as the Getty Research as a geophysicist and later, after a career Embossing,” page 36. many disciplines, including fiber arts and
Institute,Walker Art Center, British change, as a professional registered nurse. printmaking. She holds a faculty appoint-
Library, Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, This latter career has convinced her of Jerry Tresser NEED BIO “Raised Gilding ment in the Art Department at Lewis &
New York Public Library, and in the artist the truth in the phrase:“Art saves lives.” Under the Microscope” page 34. Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and she
book collections of Yale, Harvard, and She anticipates an early retirement from previously taught graphic design at the Art
Stanford.Visit www.ocac.edu/fresh nursing this spring. She plans to devote W.J. (Bill) Waddington is a freelance Institute of Boston at Lesley University, as
“Fresh Impressions,” page 16. her time to travel, to deepening her con- artist and calligrapher from Hill City, well as courses and workshops in graphic
nections to nature and other people, and the Heart of the Black Hills of South design, letterpress printing, bookbind-
American book artist David Drum has to continued development as an artist. She Dakota. Bill and his wife live in central ing, and photography at the Rhode Island
been the artist in residence at Burning lives with her husband and two grown Texas, where he is a member and past School of Design, Massachusetts College of
Books Press since 1984. David Drum’s children in the Olympia,Washington area. president of the San Antonio Calligraphers’ Art, and Oregon College of Art and Craft.
first book of poetry, Facade: A Bunch of “Pat Gill Gallery,” page 2. Guild. His current work is focused on “Fresh Impressions,” page 16.
Poems, was published by Michael Lally’s O Biblical passages as well as the poetry of
Press in New York in 1976. His poems and Artist Paula Beardell Krieg started mak- 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson. Bill
other writings have appeared in a number ing books in the early 1980s in New York at participates in exhibits in Texas; some of
of publications, including the poetry the Center for Books Arts when it was still his Biblical work was selected on two occa-
anthology None of the Above: New Poets of located in Bowery. For 20 years she has
the 1970s published by Crossing Press. He visited New York schools, from Chinatown Bookbinding
is also the author of several trade books. to the Adirondacks, teaching book arts Workshops
David Drum lives and works in both to classroom students and to teach-
Los Angeles. His e-mail address is ers. She currently lives in upstate New Two-day classes for book dealers, collectors,
burnbook@aol.com, and his web site York with her husband and two children. & those generally interested in the craft of
is www.burningbookspress.com. “Accordion Poetry Book,” page 6.
“David Drum – Burning Books,” page 22. hand bookbinding.
Monica Leaning has been a book artist
Susan Kapunscinksi Gaylord has been for approximately 20 years. Currently, she
teaching bookmaking for twenty years. In is retired from teaching.When she was a
addition to direct contact with children, teacher, she taught at all levels – from pre- School for Bookbinding Arts
educators, and parents, she shares her school to college. Her longest tenure was
enthusiasm and experience on her website at the high school level, where she was the At Cat Tail Run Hand Bookbinding
and her blog and in YouTube videos, all of head of the Art Department.After retiring 2160 Cedar Grove Rd
which can be found at makingbooks.com. from that position in 2000, she became
She is the author of Multicultural Books To an adjunct professor for three years prior Winchester, Virginia 22603
Make And Share and several other titles to her move from Michigan to South 540-662-2683 info@cattailrun.com
which are available as ebooks on CD from Carolina. She belongs to the Book Worker’s
John Neal Bookseller. “Bookmaking with Guild of America, and she makes a variety www.CatTailRun.com
Recycled Materials,” page 30. of bound books. She is a multimedia artist
who works in watercolor, oils, gouache,
Nina Judin first got in contact with and acrylics, as well as metals such a silver
bookbinding in 1995, when she started and gold.“Center-Spine Book,” page 33. Paper MarblingMay 13-14 OR May 15-16, 2009
her study for the bookbinders’ diploma New Cloth Bindings May 7-8, 2009
in Finland.After that, bookbinding took Suhas Tavkar was born in 1942 and
her to Estonia (Tallinn Academy of Arts) raised in Mumbai, India. He was taught Refurbishing I June 11-12 OR June 25-26, 2009
and Great Britain (Roehampton Institute, the art of fingernail embossing at the age
now Surrey University, London). Upon of 4 by his father.After he graduated from For further information and additional course listings
graduating from Roehampton, she moved the J.J. School of Arts in Mumbai and visit www.CatTailRun.com and click the link for
to Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Nina immigrating to the U.S. in 1977, Suhas School for Bookbinding Arts

42 Bound & Lettered Winter 09