CARVING AND

See also:

• GILDING

GILDING  , two allied operations which formerly were the most prominent features in the important industry of frame-making . The craftsmen who pursued the occupation were known as " carvers and gliders," and the terms still continue to be the recognized trade-name of frame-making, although very little of the ornamentation of frame-work is now accomplished by carving, and much of the so-called gilt ornament is produced without the use of gold . The trade has to do primarily with the frames of pictures, engravings and mirrors, but many of the light decorative fittings of houses, finished in " composition " and gilt work, are also entrusted to the carver and gilder . Fashion in picture frames, like all fashions, fluctuates greatly . Mouldings of the prevailing sizes and patterns are generally manufactured in special factories, and supplied in lengths to carvers and gilders ready for use . A large proportion of such mouldings, especially those of a cheaper and inferior quality, are made in Germany . What is distinctively known as a " German " moulding is a cheap imitation of gilt work made by lacquering over the surface of a white metallic foil . German artisans are also very successful in the preparation of imitation of veneers of rosewood, mahogany, walnut and other ornamental woods . The more expensive mouldings are either in wood (such as oak or mahogany), in veneers of any expensive ornamental wood, or real gilt . A brief outline of the method of making a gilt frame, enriched with composition ornaments, may be taken as a characteristic example of the operations of the frame-maker . The foundation of such a frame is soft pine wood, in which a moulding of the required size and section is roughly run . To prevent warping the moulding is, or ought to be, made from two or more pieces of wood glued together .

The moulding is " whitened up," or prepared for

gilding by covering it with repeated coatings of a mixture of finely powdered whiting and size . When a sufficient thickness of the whitening mixture has been applied, the whole surface is carefully smoothed off with pumice-stone and glass-paper, care being taken to keep the angles and curves clear and sharp . Were a plain gilt moulding only desired, it would now be ready for gilding; but when the frame is to be enrichedit first receives the composition ornaments . Composition, or " compo," is a mixture of fine glue, white resin, and linseed oil well boiled together, with as much rolled and sifted whiting added as makes the whole into a doughy mass while hot . This composition is worked in a hot state into moulds of boxwood, and so pressed in as to take up every ornamental detail . On its removal from the mould all superfluous matter is trimmed away, and the ornament, while yet soft and plastic, is laid on the moulding, and fitting into all the curves, &c., is fixed with glue . The ornamental surface so prepared quickly sets and becomes very hard and brittle . When very large bold ornaments are wanted for frames of unusual size they are moulded in papier mdche . Two methods of laying on gold—oil-gilding and watergilding—are practised, the former being used for frames broken up with enrichments . For oil-gilding the moulding is prepared with two coats of fine thin size to fill the pores of the wood, and afterwards it receives a coat of oil gold-size, which consists of a mixture of boiled linseed oil and ochre . When this gold-size is in a " tacky " or " sticky " condition, gold-leaf is laid on and carefully pressed over and into all parts of the surface; and when covered with a coat of finish-size the gilding is complete . Water-gilding is applied to plain mouldings and all considerable unbroken surfaces, ands finished either "matt " or burnished .

For these styles of work the mouldings are properly sized, and after the size (which for " matt " is red in

colour and for burnish blue) is dry the gold is laid on with water . Matt-work is protected with one or two coats of finish-size; but burnished gold is finished only by polishing with an agate burnisher—no size or water being allowed to touch such surfaces . The mitring up of frames, the mounting and fitting up of paintings, engravings, &c., involve too many minor operations to be noticed here in detail; but these, with the cutting and fitting of glass, cleaning and repairing pictures and prints, and similar operations, all occupy the attention of the carver and gilder .