Manufacture of Gilded Threads in the 15-17th Centuries

Abstract

Since ancient times, gilded threads have been used to decorate textiles in different cultures around the world. In the article, the author examines the threads manufacturing in the 16-17th centuries in Europe and Western Asia, trying to answer two, as it seems to him, the main questions: what was the method of gilding and what was the method of cutting if width error was less than 10 μm. It is assumed that the main gilding method was the diffusion one, and the main cutting method used rollers and a sharp blade at a small angle. The first one has not been proven but the second has been proved. The article lists all marks, diffusion and adhesion coefficients, human angular resolution, and much more.