A PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD MIRRORS

GILDING ANALYSIS:
Just two lots of gilding were found. The original gilding was laid over a double layer of gesso consisting of first a thick pink layer tinted with red, then several thin grey layers tinted with charcoal black. The addition of red lead to gesso was quite common in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the grey layers are more unusual. The gesso was sealed with a coat of animal skin glue, then gold leaf was laid in oil gilding technique using a yellow oil size. Underneath the most recent gilding is a fresh coat of white gesso then a layer of white containing some zinc white pigment. The zinc white means that the present gilding must be 20th century.