NGS Angel Gilding. Hand crafted Angel gilding, Santamaria Shirtmakers by NGS London

NGS Hand crafted Angel gilding, Santamaria Shirtmakers by NGS London.

NGS Angel Gilding. Hand crafted Angel gilding, Santamaria Shirtmakers by NGS London

NGS Shop window graphics gilding, Notting Hill London.

NGS Angel Gilding. Hand crafted Angel gilding by NGS London

NGS Shop window graphics gilding, Kings Road Chelsea, London.

Hand crafted Angel gilding by NGS London

NGS Angel Gilded Door Panel Signage: Floor Seasons, Kings Road, Chelsea, 2024.

If you love hand made quality

You’re going to love the things we do.

Gold leaf house numbers on glass

Gold leaf House numbers

A library of the finest examples of gilded numbers for the most discerning home.

NGS Restoration Sign Writers, Cafe Electric Coffee Co, wall mural, lettering NGS Sign writing, London, Chelsea, Chiswick, Putney, Dulwich, cafes, hampstead, sign painters, NGS near us .NGS, sign writing London,

Hand-Painted signage

We’ve been painting signs for London’s most iconic shops and venues for a while now… it’s time to do yours.

London traditional sign writer, NICK GARRETT, Sign writing specialist. Gold leaf, Hand painted, shop signs.

Gold Leaf shops

For that timeless hallmark look Gold Leaf has it all. This remarkable surface has lifted the finest businesses and homes across the globe.

Earliest History of secreted Angel Gilding

Justus von Liebig, widely credited with inventing the modern process for silvering glass, also worked on gilding glass with gold chloride. James Pratt, a British glass worker, was the first to realize that he could make affordable gold mirrors by depositing a layer of silver on top of thereby ‘backing up’ the richness of the gold. He was granted a British patent in 1885.

Vintage retro hand painted House Numbers, Notting hill signpainter, t house number sign writing

Stained glass early heritage gilding of Chicago

Angel gilding was widely used by Chicago’s stained glass studios in the 1920s and 30s to make a distinctive style of stained glass for Chicago’s historic bungalows. These windows have a clear glass background with the designs picked out in opalescent glass and double-sided gold mirror. To make the double-sided gold mirror the studios angel gilded large sheets of thin (1.6 mm, or 0.06 inch) glass.

A glass worker would cut two ‘copies’ of the desired shape from the glass and place the pieces back to back in a single came. Because the pieces are gold on both sides, they catch and reflect the light whether the window is viewed from inside the house or from the street. 

Vintage retro hand painted House Numbers, Notting hill signpainter, Brondesbury park vintage, house number sign writing

Frank Lloyd Wright used double-sided angel gilded glass in many of his windows, including the now demolished Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Today

Today angel gilding is used to gild inside blown glass sculptures, repair Chicago’s stained glass bungalow windows, create new glass signs and replicate and repair Victorian glass signs. At NGS we have revived the use of Angel Gilding on a number of prestige projects across London.

NGS Angel Gilding. Hand crafted Angel gilding, Santamaria Shirtmakers by NGS London

Real Angel Gilding – NGS Angel Gilding

Until very recently the earlier art of Angel Gilding had been feared lost without trace and technical process notes or transcripts. Angel gilding was a secretive practice, originally it’s practitioners claimed to apply gold without need of water glaze or chemical process. Today several versions of the process have been accepted as the original version itself. We tend to embrace the recent theories and ideas made popular by for example Sarah King, a new young master of the Chicago techniques.

r, groundbreaker mission signs, designs

But what have NGS found recently to make us so excited?

We’ve found a technique that for us is a fabulous new gilding process that goes beyond water gilding in terms of affordability costs and final light glittering beauty. We call it Satine Angel gilding as it ticks all the boxes.

Fern gold leaf signage on glass London sign writers NGS seraina

Buy what about the dreaded ‘Tinted’ Glass?

ABOVE: ‘FERN’ Satin Angel gilding while staying bright and visible cannot compete with the mirroring of water gilding or mirrored Angel gilding. However this set of lettering colluded burnishing and garlic size which gave the gold a low mirror effect.

This added greatly to the beauty and final radiance of this set which was afterall gilded onto the nightmarish tinted glass… our technique defeated the dulling of the tinted glass and maintained this glow.

Gold Biriani Glass lettering cafes restaiurants London NGS sign




TAUTZ: In the earlier days (2014) searching for an Angel, we applied Copper bronze so as to create a ‘faded gold mirror’ finish.

The client loved it and it looked pretty impressive – pitfalls were that no ‘rattle-can’ product can get anywhere near matching the brilliant mirroring of water gilding or Angel gilding. Back to the drawing board.

How did we conquer dreaded tinted glass?

That will remain a mountain we have climbed and really are reluctant to disclose.

Hand painted signs in golden leaf/gilding

The real deal: NGS Angel Gilded Door panel, Kings Road Chelsea, 2024.

Angel gilding: gold plating by electroless chemical deposition.

Gold chloride is dissolved in water, mixed with other chemicals and poured on clean glass that has been treated with stannous chloride. The gold layer is delicate and usually translucent. To make an opaque, affordable and adherent mirror, a layer of silver is deposited over the gold. Glass gilders use the term angel gilding to distinguish the chemical process from gold leaf gilding also known as verre églomisé.

NGS Angel Gilding, Glass Gild specialists.
Gold leaf signwriters, foiled gold windows. Window decals

NGS Angel gilding

NGS Angel Gilding.
Gold leaf signs are striking and timeless. Our gilded lettering and signage are done by hand using the finest quality gold, platinum and copper leaf. In addition to regular gilding on surfaces or glass, we also offer mirror gilding on glass.

This week’s most popular posts

House numbers painted, House numbers painted by NGS hand painted Victoria House titles numerals.

What’s the best colour for house number?

Choosing the best house number colour-tone Homeowners who must mount or paint their address names an…

David Partridge

The very talented Signmaster, David Partridge

Recently I was privileged to be offered the late David Partridge’s collection of brushes donat…

NGS Painted House numbers names Traditional sign writers of London NGS Dulwich Margate Chelsea signwriters

FASHIONISTA RETAIL SIGNAGE LONDON

“Personal style is about taking a risk, trying something unexpected, but always being true to …

Gold Transom Fanlight Seraina , NGS Painted House numbers names , gilded by hand.

A PAINTED HOUSE NUMBER INSTALLED in just 3 MADE EASY STEPS

Bespoke always | Bone white Dulwich | NGS Bembo Roman Letters Contacts and quotes Call here Share yo…

, NGS Painted House numbers names Traditional sign writers of London NGS Dulwich Margate, 51.49456765499576, -0.17415278042634838, Chelsea, Fulham road Signwriter, 51.513286138657314, -0.13605138048658413 painted shop signs Soho 51.52381789141246, -0.0772289866369295, Notting hill, Shoreditch signs, City of London, Hatton Garden, Canary Wharf, Clapham, Seraina, Nick Garrett signage, Wayfinding signs, hand painted Balfron Towers, Chelsea signwriters, Poplar, St. James's lettering artists, NGS Painted gold House ,numbers names Traditional sign writers of London NGS, Dulwich Margate, Chelsea, signwriters, NGS Painted gold House numbers names, Traditional sign writers of London NGS, Dulwich, Margate, Chelsea, signwriters, NGS Painted House numbers names Traditional sign writers of London NGS Dulwich Margate, 51.49456765499576, -0.17415278042634838, Chelsea, Fulham road Signwriter, 51.513286138657314, -0.13605138048658413 painted shop signs Soho 51.52381789141246, -0.0772289866369295, Notting hill, Shoreditch signs,

Signwriting Stucco surfaces: we magic sharp letters+numbers on the rough.

Even the toughest surfaces don’t phase us. A BIT ABOUT WHY/US. At NGS Signwriters, we are ofte…

Tiffany Gold Leaf Restored Roman Lettering Bond Street NGS. Specialist vintage lettering artists. retro vintage signage brand design

PAINTED VINTAGE ROMANS

These Hand Painted Letter-forms are part of our in-house range of typefaces available to all client …

1 5 6 7 8 9 37