‘All That Glitters…’

Gilding has long been used to emphasise the other-worldliness of important furniture and by the mid 18^th century gilded bronze (‘ormolu’) and brass provided dazzling and fabulous enrichments to exceptionally well made cabinet furniture from the workshops of John Channon (1711-1779) and his contemporaries; much of it of a “Grandiloquent architectural character” (C.Gilbert). Gilding could also be used to add a touch of imperial splendour to decoration, as is evidenced in the French Empire and English Regency styles of the early 19^th Century.  The lecture will draw on English and continental examples –including those of St Petersburg and will consider the symbolic use of gilt ornamentation as an expression of power.