Abstract
A scientific and historical review of burnishing and gilding, the exceptional skill levels involved in the process of gilding porcelain and the dangers recognised for burnishers and gilders in the 18th and 19th Centuries due to their exposure to mercury is discussed. The role of William Billingsley’s daughters, Sarah and Lavinia, in this operationat Swansea and Nantgarw, citing evidential documentation from their previous employment at the Worcester factory, is proposed and the effects of mercury poisoning are considered.
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References
R. S. Edmundson, “Billingsley, Randall and Rose”, in Welsh Ceramics in Context, Part I, ed. J. Gray, Royal Institution of South Wales, Swansea, 2003, pp. 193–214.
W. Turner, The Ceramics of Swansea and Nantgarw, Bemrose & Sons, Old Bailey, London, 1897.
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Edwards, H.G.M. (2017). Burnishing and Gilding. In: Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48713-7_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48713-7_5
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