This oval mirror frame was once very beautiful indeed but when i got the job to restore its appearence this is how the poor thing looked.....
Very badly damaged,the top ornament is "loose"with bits falling off it,and all of the original gilding is gone..
The bottom part where the sconces originally held candles is also very loose and most of the ornaments are missing so all of it had to be rebuilt by hand and preped to be re-gilded using the traditional gilding technique of water gilding combined with oil gilding
The client wanted something a little different so i gilded with two different gold leaf hues,one is the traditional 22 carats gold leaf and the other is an 18 carats white gold leaf, then burnished to give it a sophisticated elegant look
..Another gorgeous piece of antique is saved to live another two hundred years and more : )
