How to tool or stamp on top of gold leaf
by Maitresse Yvianne de Castel d'Avignon OL, AEthelmearc
Scribes and guilds often owned one of a kind metal stamps. They ranged in style from simple shapes such as dots and ovals to more elaborate leaf within leaf designs, acanthus and quatrefoils. Complex designs were built up using many different stamps or by using a single pinpoint stamp and making many close spaced dots that form a pattern. Tooling can be done anywhere there is raised gilding. Inside capitals, diaper patterns and frames around miniatures are common areas. Not too many SCA scrolls have figures wearing halos, but in period saintly figures abounded, enhancing halos was a very widespread practice.
Modern scribes often use whatever interesting shaped “tools” they can. Round point needles or properly prepared nails (no sharp edges or burrs) when pulled across a gilded surface at a 45° angle or less will make lines of varying widths. Mechanical pencils and ball point pens with their lead/ink out of the way will produce circles. Interesting shaped rivets can also be used. Small leather tooling stamps come in a variety of shapes. Try to keep your stamps small. The ones under 1/4 inch are far more useful. You can build up a pattern in the medieval style rather than having just one stock design that restricts where you are able to use it.
The technique is fairly easy. Gild the area you wish to tool. Once it is burnished, it is ready. Try to finish stamping within a day or two... not more than a week after gilding. Freshly laid gesso has more elasticity and is less prone to chipping or cracking. If the gilding is older than this, do a small, inconspicuous test. It may or may not work, so starting inside the capital or at the upper left corner is a bad idea because this is ,often the first place someone will look.
You can draw out a sketch or two on paper and get an idea of a design if you wish, but don’t draw the design on the gilding, you may scratch the gold off. When you have decided what you want to do, choose a stamp and place it on top of the gilding. Using firm pressure push it down. Without removing the stamp, lift up a corner to see how deep your impression is. If it is not deep enough put the stamp back into place and push again. You may gently rock the tool. Repeat this until all areas under the stamp are to your liking. Remove the stamp and look at the impression before you put the stamp aside. If you do find a spot that needs retouched, it is much easier to get the stamp back into place if you have not changed its position in your hand.
Some examples of period tool designs from “Observations on the Trecento and Early Quattrocento Workshop” by Mojmir S. Frinta as printed in _The Artist’s Workshop_ Distributed by the University Press of New England ISBN 089468-190-7
Keep a model book of designs that you have tried and like as well as those you didn’t. This will keep you from repeating something you don’t want to. It also gives you a visual reference of the things you have done. Tooling doesn’t reproduce well on copies.
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