Gold Leaf

What Is Gold Leaf?

"Leaf" metal - be it gold or any other sort - is essentially a very thin sheet of that metal. The name comes, presumably, from the fact that many leaves are also very thin and easily torn; it's the same usage as with the "leaves" of a book. Leaf metalwork doesn't need to be shaped like a leaf however it sometimes is, a sort of decorative pun.

Unless you're a craft hobbyist looking for supplies or you make your own jewelry you're unlikely to buy genuine gold leaf directly. Instead you'll find it used to decorate jewelry (earrings, necklaces, pendants etc) or other items you buy such as chandeliers or statuettes. It was also applied to many older statues before electroplating techniques became available and is also sometimes used for ornate lettering.

The downside of leafing is that, being a thin coating, it can sometimes be prone to scratching or other wear and tear. Leafed items need to be treated with care and cleaned gently.

Uses

The application of leafing is used to provide the visual appeal of gold at an affordable cost. Almost any metal object can be leafed, from small pieces of jewelry to picture frames and even large items of room decor. Crafters and hobbyists use gold leafing for a variety of reasons, from gilding objects to adding shine to greeting cards or scrapbook pages.

If you want to try gilding and applying gold leaf at home then you can buy kits with everything you need to get started. Another option is gold leaf paint or a simple leafing pen for fine detail. Although genuine gold leaf is available to buy online there are also modern imitations that provide almost identical results at a much lower price. If this matters to you then check carefully to make sure you know what you're buying.

How Is Gold Leaf Made?

Making gold leaf by hand depends on the fact that gold is a fairly soft metal. It can easily be pounded flat!

The traditional technique involved doing just that. A lump of gold was beaten flat, then placed between stones or sheets of parchment and beaten flatter still. This process was repeated until the leaf was deemed thin enough. As the gold became thinner it obviously spread out, meaning that a decent sized leaf sheet could be produced from a relatively small piece of gold. This technique is said to date back to the ancient Egyptians.

Today, of course, gold leaf is usually produced using special mechanical equipment. Modern leaf can be as thin as 1/10000 mm (100 nanomtres).