Fire gilding

A process for the gilding of metal ? usually copper, copper alloy, or silver ? also known as mercury gilding, and as POISONOUS!ormolu. Powdered gold (also known as moulu) mixed with mercury is applied to the surface of the metal as a paste and then fired. The mercury evaporates as highly toxic fumes, and the gold is fixed. This surface must then be burnished.Example: Moderno (Galeazzo Mondella?) (Italian, working 1490