Charbonnel Gilder's Clay Base

Charbonnel Gilder's Clay Base

Charbonnel is a historic French brand with roots dating back to 1862, when Parisian chemist François Charbonnel began crafting specialised materials for the rapidly evolving world of printmaking. From its early days on the banks of the Seine, the brand became a trusted resource for artists exploring intaglio, etching and lithography, attracting legendary names such as Pissarro, Renoir, Degas, Manet and later Picasso, Chagall and Dalí. Renowned for exceptional quality and continuous innovation, Charbonnel has evolved alongside artistic and technological advances while remaining deeply connected to traditional craftsmanship.

Today, as part of the Lefranc Bourgeois family, Charbonnel continues to be an international benchmark in fine art printmaking, offering professional inks, grounds and a growing range of materials for restoration, gilding, conservation and fresco painting.

About this product:

• Clay paste, very finely ground - this gilders’ clay guarantees the gilder a stable and perfectly homogeneous and high quality paste;
  
• Mix the gilders’ clay with twice its volume of a warm solution of rabbit skin glue - the addition of rabbit skin glue is essential to ensure the attachment of gold on the surface to gild (mix 5 to 8 gm of rabbit skin glue for 100gm of water);
  
• Heat in a water bath at 60 degrees Celsius;
  
• Carefully apply the prepared support;
  
• The paste must be placed in 3 or 4 layers with a special brush in three thin layers, spaced out by 2 hours (wait until each one is completely dry before moving onto the next one);
  
• Finally, after 24 hours of drying, it will be polished with the “brosse chien d’assiette”;
  
• Apply the gold leaves;
  
• The color of the clay appears slightly, giving a final tone to the gold;
  
• The different shades can mix.