Gilt leather
The Gilt Leather Society aims to promote and disseminate knowledge, skill and care for gilt leather and gilt leather hangings in all their diversity. One of the primary goals of the society is to promote international exchange of knowledge..
What is gilt leather
The Gilt Leather Society aims to promote and disseminate knowledge, skill and care for gilt leather and gilt leather hangings in all their diversity. One of the primary goals of the society is to promote international exchange of knowledge.
What is gilt leather
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Various uses of Gilt Leather
Gilt leather was one of the most luxurious types of wall decoration in the Western world. Until the late 18th centuries high-status public buildings – palaces, stately homes, upper-class mansions – were adorned with it. Beside wall hangings, gilt leather has also been used as an upholstery material for folding screens, chairs, kneelers, chests, portieres and canopies, as covers for various kind of costly furniture as tables and chairs, for altar frontals and ecclesiastical vestments, and even for (real) paintings.
Mysteries of Gilt Leather
This famous phrase from William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice (1596-1599) does definitely applies to gilt leather. Most gilt leather does not hold even a trace of gold. The metal-leaf which has been applied in almost all gilt leather dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries is actually silver. Covered by a yellowish oil-resinous varnish this gave the leather its ‘golden’ appearance, hence gilt leather.
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Gallery
Over the ages, gilt leather has been produced in various countries. It was a fashionable material of which the outlook changed according to the styles of the time. In this gallery several gilt leather panels with divers patterns are illustrated, all being characteristic for the country and period of production.
GalleryGilt Leather Hangings & Collections Worldwide
View a map of several museum collections, historic house museums and churches, castles and country houses in which gilt leather can be admired and enjoyed.
Map Gilt Leather Hangings & Collections Worldwide