Gilders' Tips

Tips are a type of brush where a thin row of squirrel hair is clamped between two pieces of card and used to pick up sheets of loose metallic leaf which are so fine and flighty that it can not be handled by hand.

The Tips are brushed along the arm or over the gilder’s hair to pick up some oil which then clings to the leaf and allows it be picked up and floated down onto the surface that is to be gilded. Rubbing a small amount of Vaseline onto the underside of the forearm and then brushing the tips along it will also achieve the desirable light tackiness.