Loose Gold Leaf, 23 ct — Book of 25

Description

Genuine 23 carat loose leaf in a book of 25, for gold tooling over glair. Loose rather than transfer: loose leaf is what the traditional method requires, because the leaf is picked up off the cushion with a tip and laid onto the sized leather, and a transfer leaf carries a backing that cannot be worked that way. It is unforgiving material — a draught takes it, a damp finger takes it, and it cannot be picked up twice. Work in still air with the window shut and the fan off. Twenty-three carat is the binding standard: high enough not to tarnish over decades, with enough alloy to be workable where pure gold is not. If you are learning, learn on foil first and come to leaf when the tooling is already right; leaf punishes a hesitant impression in a way foil does not.