![]() Either process may be used to apply gold only to selected areas in a format known as parcel gilding. A paste (amalgam of gold powder and mercury) is painted onto the object and heated until much of the mercury evaporates, leaving the gold, which can then be polished. This was succeeded by fire gilding or amalgam gilding. Later, gold leaf was applied to the metal surface by burnishing. The earliest form of gilding in Asia used gold foil that was attached to the supporting surface by its edges. Gilding refers to the process of applying a thin coating of gold to another surface, usually metal. Methods of working with gold include hammering it into sheets, foil, or leaf striking, chasing, and engraving it cutting, joining, and soldering it forming it into wire or grinding it into powder to make paint. Artists around the world have found various ways over the centuries to manipulate gold and fashion it into dazzling objects by itself or in combination with and as an embellishment to other materials. When we encounter gold in museum galleries, we find it in many forms. Chinese Buddhists interpreted the golden color as an expression of the Buddha’s sunlike spiritual radiance, his inner purity, and the inestimable worth of his teachings. Images of the Buddha are usually gilded because one of the thirty-two characteristics that marked the Buddha at birth was skin that shone like gold. ![]() It was also used to adorn Buddhist arts as a way to reflect their sanctity. Gold was often regulated by statuary laws since it was considered precious and luxurious. In distant antiquity-the second millennium BCE-gold objects in China reflected the adoption of techniques and style from the north steppe, but over time Chinese used gold in distinctive ways that suited the artistic culture of each Chinese dynasty. In many periods in Chinese history gold was considered a luxury. When they receive their jewelry back, it is even more positive and purifying. In South India, bathing a divine image with “gold water” is part of ritual: the donor puts a piece of gold jewelry into a pot of water that is then poured over the deity. ![]() Since ancient times, gold in India was understood to have a positive and purifying effect on its wearer. In Persian painting, gold was used as a way of rendering daylight. Due to its distinctive properties, gold was often recognized as having symbolic associations with purity, durability, value, and warmth.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |