goldbeating
The art or process of reducing gold into extremely
thin leaves. Goldbeating, which today is done
almost entirely by mechanical devices, some of
which are designed to duplicate the movement of
the human arm, involves melting the gold into a
bar, rolling it to a thickness of approximately
1/1,000 inch, and then beating it in three stages:
theCUTCH (1) ,SHODER , and MOLD (2) , followed
by cutting and booking. When done by mechanical
devices, goldbeating is simply a manufacturing
process, but when done by hand it is an art.
The origin of gold beating is unknown; however, it
is known that the tombs of prominent Egyptians
contained artifacts bearing gold leaf, although
not of the quality and thinness produced today.
See also: GOLD
LEAF .
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