All about gold leaf

All about gold leaf

  • Gold can be hammered into very thin sheets called gold leaf.
  • The most commonly used gold is 22 karats. A karat is a measure of how much gold is in an alloy. Pure gold is 24 karats. 18-karat gold is 18 parts gold and 6 parts another metal.
  • Gilding, or gold leafing, is when you place layers of gold leaf on a surface.
  • A gold leaf book contains 25 leaves, a pack contains 20 books or 500 leaves.
  • 500 gold leaves cover a surface of 3.67 square metres.
  • To produce a wide variety of colors, copper and silver is mixed with gold, but then the leaves can tarnish.
  • The thickness of gold leaf can vary. The mass of 1000 gold leaves is about 20 grams. Sheets can vary in thickness from 0.1 to 0.125 millionths of a metre (micrometers).
  • Cleopatra was said to sleep every night with a golden face mask to preserve and enhance her beauty.
  • Gold leaf is used to decorate some food as it can be eaten. It is especially popular for cakes, sweets and desserts. So much gold was eaten in the Italian city of Padua that in 1500 the City Council imposed a limit.
  • In places like Mandalay, Myanmar, the gold is hammered by hand. It is back-breaking work and many workers quit at about 40 years of age.
  • Giusto Manetti Battiloro has been producing gold leaf in Florence Italy since 1600.
  • Rabbit-skin glue is spread over a clay bole surface. Once this becomes sticky the gold leaf can be carefully added.
  • Cleopatra was said to sleep every night with a golden face mask to preserve and enhance her beauty.
  • Gold leaf is used to decorate some food as it can be eaten. It is especially popular for cakes, sweets and desserts. So much gold was eaten in the Italian city of Padua that in 1500 the City Council imposed a limit.