Letter of the week
Gilded memories
I READ, with great interest and the fondest of memories, Jane Wheatley’s account of the art of gilding (). As a child, I watched with fascination as my father applied wafer-thin sheets of gold leaf to pieces of restored furniture. A consultant surgeon, he used his patience and dexterity in his hobby as a cabinetmaker and furniture restorer. Very occasionally, if I was prepared to sit still, he would allow me to hold the book of gold leaf, so that he could transfer the sheets across. I remember to this day the smell of the pan of rabbit-skin glue. Thank you for allowing me to reminisce.
