Gold relief & crested wares

A great deal of skill is needed for the production of glasses with gold-relief edges. First, a mask of asphalt or elastic film is bonded to the glass. Then the rest of the glass is brushed with a resistant material so that only the pattern that is to be worked deep into the glass, stands proud. The glass is then abraded with an acid-containing paste or by sandblasting. Subsequently, the crystal glass is scrupulously cleaned and then gilded. The relief effect occurs after plating, with the deeper background remaining matt. Another technique of gold-relief is with hand-painted enamel which is then fired at high temperature. The painted relief is gilded and in turn high-fired.

This high temperature technology is ideal for the decoration of vases and decorative objects – an example of this is our vases “Ginkgo “.