Good as Gold: The Process of Gold Leafing a Frame

Bill Adair will share a tour of his Gold Leaf Studios, showing highlights of the frame collection. He will then demonstrate the actual gilding process on a section of one of the frames that the studio is working on.  Adair will also discuss and take questions about conservation ethics in the field.

Adair will give you the opportunity to become a “frame detective” yourself and will help you identify your family possessions. Frames can often leave clues about the origins of  painting and photographs, especially when labels or inscriptions are found on the verso (the back of the frame). Each frame can reveal hidden truths long forgotten. Any frames are fair game! Time will also be available for participants to ask questions about their own frames.

William Adair is a frame conservator, frame historian, and master gilder. He began his career in frame conservation at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, where he became fascinated with gilding and the history of frames. In 1975, the Smithsonian awarded Adair a grant to travel to Europe to learn about tools and techniques from the few remaining master gilders working in the Renaissance tradition.