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. Leaf metal doesn't need to be shaped like a leaf however it sometimes is, a sort of decorative pun.Unless you're a craft hobbyist or make your own jewelry you're unlikely to buy genuine gold leaf directly. Instead you'll find it used to decorate jewelry or other items such as pendants or chandeliers. It was also used on many older statues before electroplating techniques became available. The use of fine leaf metal provides the visual appeal of gold at an affordable cost. The downside is that, being a thin coating, it can sometimes be prone to scratching or other wear and tear.
Hobbyists use gold leaf for a variety of reasons, from gilding objects to adding shine to greeting cards or scrapbook pages. Although genuine gold leaf is available to buy online, many people find it best to use the more affordable imitation variety.
Gold has always been used as an indicator of wealth and excellence. Continuing this trend some food and drink products contain tiny amounts of edible food grade gold leaf as decoration.
Techniques
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).