ormolu


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Related to ormolu: gilt

ormolu

(ôr`məlo͞o), finish used on metal to imitate gold. It is employed chiefly for furniture mountings. The term originally applied to a coating of ground gold and was extended to alloys of copper and zinc. Ormolu mountings were characteristic of 18th-century furniture and attained their highest artistic and technical development in France, especially in the work of Charles Cressent, Pierre Gouthière, and Jacques Caffieri. Ormolu was produced on a large scale in England, with Matthew Boulton the chief manufacturer. Workmanship deteriorated in the 19th cent.

ormolu

1. Gold crushed with mercury to form a paste.
2. An article or ornamental appliqué of bronze, first coated with such paste, then heated to evaporate the mercury, leaving pure gold evenly and securely deposited.
3. Any metal or substitute finished to resemble mercury-gilded bronze.

ormolu

1. 
a. a gold-coloured alloy of copper, tin, or zinc used to decorate furniture, mouldings, etc.
b. (as modifier): an ormolu clock
2. gold prepared to be used for gilding
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References in periodicals archive ?
He produced beautiful objets de vertu in Blue John, mounted in ormolu for rich clients including Catherine the Great who between 1772 and 1774 purchased vases, clocks and an obelisk.
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It takes its name from bleujaune (blue-yellow), probably from the days when worked pieces were sent to France to be fitted with gilded handles and ornament by French ormolu craftsmen.
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Yet perhaps even Bournonville would have been startled off his ormolu pedestal by the fervor evoked by this panoply of Bournonvilliana so long after his death.
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Paul Mellon Centre for British Art 16 Bedford Square London WC1B 3JA Tel: 020 7580 0311 www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk Organised in conjunction with Soho House in Birmingham, where Boulton (1728-1809) lived and had his factory, this conference explores themes such as Boulton's career, his work in ormolu and silver, and the role of his factory.
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from demolished buildings, broken chandeliers, ormolu work from larger
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The collection, Ormolu Silks, uses colors like bronze, gold and mercury.
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See and consider: Sconce, candlesticks, mirror, body, pectorals, potted plant, molding, inflatable panda, trees, harpsichord, ormolu, light, buttocks, flowers, sky, abandoned billboards, atmosphere, flesh, blueness, whiteness, recessed lighting, blondhess, reflection, reality, fantasy, sneaker.
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There were combinations of marble and brass, and ormolu and wood.
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I would strip away all the gold leaf and ormolu in an effort to learn what the piece had to say.
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The gift books were, in fact, characteristic table decorations of the ormolu age, bought as much for their bindings and their richly engraved illustrations as for their contents.
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