Gilding decorations as third firing and their contemporary interpretations

Gold has continiously been the symbol of wealth in the history of mankind and has been used in the production of ornaments since thousands of years. Also, its path intercepted with ceramic material that is an important evidence of mankind history and as seeds of industrial revolution were being thrown in Europe; even though permanency was unsuccesful, first experiments of gilding decoration was produced in China. The aim of this study is; to investigate the historical evolution and application metods of gilding decoration that is an overglaze application, accordingly the invention and evolution of liquid gilds in ceramics decoration history has been researched through local and foreign references; factories producing industrial ceramics using gilding decoratons were mentioned and works of contemporary artists using liquid gilds in their applications were exemplified. In conclusion, gilding applications by brush decoration tecnique were mentioned and the research was completed. Keywords: Ceramics Decoration, Overglaze, Gilding Decorations