Decoration

PLASTERING OVER

A base composed of a chalky mixture and rabbit glue makes ready to decorate, paint or gild the wooden artefacts.

The plastering drafts may vary depending on the required thickness. That is because the fund for gilding and the one for painting are different. In general we give up to seven coats of chalk and glue to get a good support for the gold plating. After those various drafts it is necessary to give an additional thin layer called “primer”. It is a mix of white lead or “biacca” and a small amount of pigments. We use it to give a light chromatic tone. Moreover, thank to the addition of animal glues, it is useful to saturate the porosity of the preparation. Decorative elements, gilding and painting enhance their charm when there is an adequate plasting over.

PAINTING

Our laboratory is specialist in the furniture restoration, painting, lacquering and new production.

The painting aims at making marbling, floral and landscape decorations. It has carried out an a stable base of plaster with tempera, watercolours, umbers, mineral and vegetable essences. Then it is fixed using solutions that may vary in relation to the lacquers. There is also a poor technique that is widely practiced for particular types of furniture, as chests or dressers. It is called “gouache”. Here the colours are diluted with water and glue. That technique allows us to realize modular decorative elements. They are executed using the stamping way with a soaked in colour pad.

GILDING

We carry out different types of gilding:

• “Gouache” gilding with gilded leaf. It uses various carats depending on the object we restore. We also use different contributions of finish, such as matte, bulinata, burnishing with agate and its final protective fixing. Moreover easily removable natural resins are another important contribution that does not deteriorate the work.
• Mission gilding. It is the application of a gilded leaf on different paints using a watery, alcoholic or oily solution. It is also used for architectural indoor and outdoor solutions.
• Mecca gilding. It is used for the XIX century mission or “gouache” wooden works using no valuable materials, as brass, aluminium, copper.