Gilding
Covering a surface with a very thin layer of gold or a gold-coloured metal.
Also: gold leaf, gilt
Gold can be beaten into leaf so thin that it floats on a breath. Gilders lay these sheets onto wood, plaster, metal, paper or stone with a sticky size or a film of water, then polish them. A tiny amount of gold covers a large area, and it never tarnishes. Gilding gives the gold of temple domes, picture frames, manuscript pages and statues. The upper part of the Golden Temple at Amritsar is covered in gilded copper sheets. Cheaper leaf made of brass alloys looks similar at first but darkens unless sealed.