Gilding and Patination

Here again is a Georgian style frame, watergilded in 231/2 ct gold.
The patination here is the result of many layers or glazes, carefully built up to give the best impression of age, wear and tear.
Whilst I always thought it should be possible to copy the colour and tone of old gilding with a fairly simple mix of dyes and pigments, experience has shown me otherwise!
For some reason the mixtures are wide and complex and can mean that patination can take up to three days to achieve.

This is a close-up where you can see the effect of distressing the outer edge.
The challenge is to age the gilding without muting the reflectivity of the gold and keep the frame as bright as possible.
An interesting test of successful patination is the degree to which it illuminates an early print or painting.