What does the term poliment gilding mean?

Poliment gilding is gilding on red bolus, and attractive to the icon painter because the gold is then polishable with an agate stone. Sometimes the reflection of the gold is so bright, you can see yourself in it or it reflects daylight or artificial light to the point of blinding. It's very beautiful and very gold. And difficult!

What's on my mind at the moment is the word poliment. You would think it is derived from polishing. Polishing also qualifies, and in the auto industry that means polishing the car paint on the outside of the car. If this derivation is correct, then poliment is “polishing ground” and poliment is gilding on polishable ground.

Then what I think is nothing for an icon painter is a course in poliment gilding according to the Kölner system. More exact would be: according to the Kölner kggg system. This is because Kölner supplies acrylic products for polishing. To me, acrylic seems best compatible with poliment. I have done it, it makes polishing very easy.

But if you want to start gilding with natural bolus, it turns out that it is then suddenly very difficult, and so you have to learn the tricks of natural gilding elsewhere. Not at all interesting for us icon painters. We are looking for a non-acrylic way of gilding as the ancients did it. The arguments are well known, first articulated by the Russian immigrant in Paris L.Uspensky around 1950: Solomon said at the dedication of the temple, that “it is Thine and we return it from Thy hand”, referring to the materials of creation, taken from everywhere. The second argument is good stewardship of the earth on which we live. To be found in one of Christ's parables.

And such an acrylic course is expensive too.