Decorative details GILDING

The advice of an interior designer friend of mine once, as I was pondering the treatment of an 18th-century cornice, was that ‘if in doubt, gild it.’ I did exactly that and, although this might seem a rather extreme solution to many decorating dilemmas, it has, in fact, proved rather sage advice over the decades.

Gilding is the most opulent and lavish statement: a mark of success, wealth and grandeur – sometimes of excess – but it is also symbolically important in conveying messages of love, compassion, wisdom and illumination. Its richness is therefore not only associated with the baseness of financial success, but also has strong historical associations with myth and spirituality.

GOLDEN AGES

Gilding is not a singularly distinct process and, like many crafts and artisan-based