artist :: miria ellner

Verre Eglomisé, often referred to as “jewelry for the home” is a technique of reverse gilding and etched painting on glass using gold or silver leaf.

The process has a couple steps — first the artist will etch the design, then he/she will set the color and then finally gild precious metals to the back of the glass.  The gold or silver leaf is what gives the glass its reflective qualities and mirror-like effect.

image :: gildingstudio.com

Verre Eglomisé goes back to Roman times and has evolved quite a bit over the years.  The technique was originally applied to bowls or other vessels, then later added to furniture and mirrors.  The biggest change came with the invention of sheet glass (followed by plate glass), which allowed the technique of reverse gilding to be applied to wall decoration.