Iconography Burnishing Stones
Agate burnishers are polished agate stones set on a handle, the tool that gives water gilding its mirror shine. The stone presses the gold leaf onto the bole beneath and polishes it. Agates come in a range of shapes, for flat surfaces, curves, and carved work.
The agate is the tool that completes water gilding. The semi-precious stone, cut and polished to a perfectly smooth face, passes over the gold leaf and presses it into the soft bole beneath. Under the stone, the gold compacts and polishes, and the matte leaf reaches the deep, mirror lustre that only burnished gilding has.
The shape of the stone follows the surface. Straight and broad agates burnish grounds and haloes, curved ones work the contours, and pointed shapes, cut as a tooth or a flame, reach into the carving of wood-carved panels and carry the gold to the depth of the relief. The stone itself, with its natural hardness, holds its polished face through decades of work.
Art & Colour carries agate burnishers in a range of shapes and sizes, beside the bole, gold leaf, and the other tools of gilding.