Mercury gilding

Julie L. Sloan <jsloan [at] vgernet__net> writes

>I have a contact who is looking for instructions on how to replicate
>mercury gilding on glass.  The reverse of the glass is to be gilded,
>but the reflective surface must be seen through the glass, like a
>mirror.  Can anyone steer me toward instructions, even period ones?

I have already faxed the relevant pages to Ms. Sloan.  They were
copied from:

    The Repository of Arts and Sciences
    Edinburgh, 1838,pp. 66-67

and

    Workshop Receipts
    by Ernest Spon, E & F.N. Spon, London, 1888, pp. 190, 202, 307,
    308, & 316-17.

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Laboratory
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, OR  97217
503-735-3942  (voice/fax)

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:77
                 Distributed: Wednesday, March 31, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-12-77-009
                                  ***