Throughout most of recorded history, gold has been the most-admired embellishment for decorating objects.
Gold has enhanced every type of antique — furniture, china, books, religious articles and paintings. By the late 1800s, gold decoration was so routinely used in American homes that humorist Mark Twain in 1873 coined a descriptive phrase for his book that defined the era. His work was not a manual for home decor, but a satire that made him much gold and even had a golden title — “The Gilded Age.”
The process of gilding is the application of gold to a surface as decoration. Long before the birth of Christ, it was discovered that malleable gold could be beaten into very thin sheets. These leaves were then applied to surfaces of various articles with the help of a gluelike substance called a “mordant.”
Costly gilding has been in existence since ancient times and always has been afforded high status. Entire Egyptian mummies were encased in gold leaf. In the Middle Ages, hand-copied books often were illustrated with miniature paintings that included embellishments of gold leaf.
One French masterpiece created about 1413 depicted the Duke of Berry. In the illustrations, the artist or artists were very generous with gilt — especially with a halolike background surrounding the duke.
In the 1400s and 1500s, gilt began to enrich architectural elements such as the pointed tips on iron fences.
By the 1600s, artistic history was made when, for the first time, frames for paintings were gilded.
An area of Chicago, which was turning quite posh in the 1880s, became known as the Gold Coast. Certainly the glittering furnishings of its upscale residents helped inspire its befitting nickname.