Ormolu

[citation needed] The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of mercuric nitrate is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze; followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury.

In literature there is a 1612 reference from John Webster: Hang him; a gilder that hath his brains perished with quicksilver is not more cold in the liverAfter around 1830, legislation in France had outlawed the use of mercury, although it continued to be commonly employed until around 1900 and was still in use around 1960 in very few workshops.

A later substitute of a mixture of metals resembling ormolu was developed in France and called pomponne, though the mix of copper and zinc, sometimes with an addition of tin, is technically a type of brass.

[citation needed] Similarly fine results could be achieved for lighting devices, such as chandeliers and candelabras, as well as for the ornamental metal mounts applied to clock cases and to ceramic pieces.

[3] Chinese and European porcelains mounted in gilt-bronze were luxury wares that heightened the impact of often-costly and ornamental ceramic pieces sometimes used for display.

[citation needed] A few surviving pieces of 16th-century Chinese porcelain subsequently mounted in contemporary European silver-gilt, or vermeil, show where the foundations of the later fashion lay.