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Metal leaf: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:42, 25 October 2023

Extremely thin sheet of metal

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Ametal leaf, also called composition leaforschlagmetal, is a thin foil used for gilding and other forms of decoration. Metal leaves can come in many different shades. Some metal leaves may look like gold leaf but do not contain any real gold. This type of metal leaf is often referred to as imitation leaf.

Metal leaves are usually made of gold (including many alloys), silver, copper, aluminium, brass (sometimes called "Dutch metal" typically 85% Copper and 15% zinc) or palladium, sometimes also platinum.

Vark is a type of silver leaf used for decoration in Indian cuisine.

Goldbeating, the technique of producing metal leaves, has been known for more than 5,000 years. A small gold nugget 5 mm in diameter can be expanded to about 20,000 times its initial surface through hammering, producing a gold foil surface of about one half square meter with a thickness of 0.2–0.3 μm.

See also

• Professional Picture Framers Association

References

Further reading

• "Gold Leaf in Architecture: When, Where, & Why It Was Used". johncanningco.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

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