Winter list · two benches
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Golden Line is a two-bench gilding and lettering studio. Everything linked below lives on this page — nothing to download or sign into.

GL

Gilding & hand lettering

Golden Line

Gold leaf on glass, timber and brick. Lettering drawn by hand, sized and laid at the bench — never printed vinyl.

Featured

The winter gilding list is open

Two benches free before the workshop closes for leaf-drying season. Read the brief checklist first — it is short, and it saves a fortnight of back and forth.

Brief checklist

Commissions

From the bench

  • Why gold leaf prefers glassWater gilding, and the mirror finish you only get from behind

    Laid into a wet gelatine size on the back of the glass, the leaf dries against a perfectly flat surface. That is what produces the true mirror — a gilded window read from the street is brighter than anything laid on timber.

    It is also why reverse work is drawn in mirror image, backed up with a second layer, then painted out behind. The glass protects the leaf from the weather; the paint protects it from the room.

  • 23kt leaf or schlagmetal?Where the cheaper metal is honest, and where it is not

    Genuine 23kt will not tarnish, so it is the only sensible choice outdoors or anywhere damp. Schlagmetal is brass — it oxidises unless it is sealed, and sealing dulls the shine that made you want it.

    We use schlagmetal happily for large interior fields, ceiling coves and set work, where the sheet size makes broad coverage quick and the surface is dry and out of reach.

  • Looking after a gilded panelWarm water, a soft cloth, and nothing else at all

    Wipe with a soft cloth and warm water only. Solvents, glass cleaner, polish and anything abrasive will lift the leaf or scratch the burnish — there is no lacquer to hide behind on water-gilded work.

    Exterior fascia lettering is worth a look each spring. Small lifts at the edges are easy to patch early and expensive to patch late.

Studio

The detail behind each link

Commission brief checklist

Gather these six things and a quote usually comes back the same week.

  • Surface. Glass, painted timber, render, brick or metal — and whether it has been gilded before.
  • Measurements. Width and height of the panel, plus the height of the tallest letter you have in mind.
  • Indoors or out. This decides the leaf, the size and the price more than anything else.
  • Existing lettering. Any wordmark, sign shape or typeface the work has to sit beside.
  • Access. Ladder, tower or bench work, and the hours the room or shopfront can be ours.
  • Photographs. Daylight, straight on, one wide and one close.

Briefs are read on Monday mornings. The winter list holds two benches; work laid after the cold sets in waits for the spring run.

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What we gild

  • Glass and mirror. Reverse gilding, blended backgrounds, outlined and shaded lettering for shopfronts and doors.
  • Fascia and timber. Hand-painted signboards with gilded letters, sized and laid on site where needed.
  • Walls and plaster. Interior lettering, numerals and borders, including coves and shallow mouldings.
  • Vehicle doors. Traditional trade lettering and pinstriping, drawn to the panel rather than fitted to it.
  • Restoration. Patching lifted leaf and matching the tone of older gilt work already in place.
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Materials & finishes

  • 23kt loose leaf. Water gilded on glass. The brightest finish available and the only one for damp or exterior work.
  • 22kt transfer leaf. Oil sized on timber and render, where a paper carrier makes outdoor handling possible.
  • Palladium leaf. A cool white metal that will not tarnish — good against grey stone and dark glass.
  • Schlagmetal. Large sheets for interior fields and set work only, always sealed.
  • Burnished or matte. Burnished over gesso for mirror brightness; matte laid over size for a quieter, older look.
  • Drying windows. Oil size is workable for hours, gelatine size for minutes. Cold, damp rooms change both.
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Bench notes

  • September. A reverse-gilded window for a bookbinder is drying face down; backing-up next week once the leaf has settled.
  • September. New batch of gesso ground and sieved. Eight coats on the small panels before any burnishing starts.
  • August. Pounce patterns re-cut for the numeral set — the old ones had stretched out of square.
  • August. Two fascia boards primed and flatted, waiting on the weather for their outdoor size.

Notes are written at the end of each week, so the newest entry is whatever was last on the bench.

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Gilder's glossary

  • Size. The adhesive the leaf is laid into. Oil size for outdoor work, gelatine size for glass.
  • Gesso. Chalk and glue ground built up in thin coats, then smoothed, so leaf can be burnished to a mirror.
  • Burnish. Polishing laid leaf with a smooth stone until it reflects rather than glows.
  • Pounce. A pricked paper pattern dusted through to transfer drawn lettering onto the surface.
  • Backing-up. A second layer of leaf behind the first on glass work, filling any skips before painting out.
  • Schlagmetal. Brass imitation leaf — larger sheets, lower cost, needs sealing and stays indoors.
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