Enamelled Chinese Teapot with Gilded Decoration
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
Continental silver coffee pot with flower finial, Hungarian marks, with black handle, 540 gms total weight, height 20 cm approx
A French .950 silver coffee pot, mid 19th century, with Minerva 1 mark and rubbed maker's marks in cartouche of elegant pear shaped form having a domed lid with a floral finial, a scrolling ear shaped handle with ivory insulators and a conforming spout, ra
Victorian sterling silver teapot, London 1844, makers Edward, Edward Junior, John and William Barnard, embossed decoration, crested, acorn finial, quad footed. Height 18 cm weight 762grams
A rare heavy c.1840 American Bayley & Kitchen coin silver coffee pot, the plain baluster pot with acanthus leaf detail to the handle and spout, the domed lid with applied floral and leaf finial, the base with four restrained scrolling feet, ivory heat ring