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Burnishing gold leaf with an agate stone tool, during the water gilding process

Gold leaf is gold that is beaten into extremely thin sheets. The thin gold sheets are commonly used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. 22-karat yellow gold is the most commonly used.

Gold leaf is sometimes confused with metal leaf but they are often different products. The term metal leaf is is normally used for thin sheets of metal of any color, including those that do not contain any real gold. Real gold leaf is almost pure gold.

Layering gold leaf over a surface is sometimes called gold leafing, and is a very common form of gilding.

22k gold leaf applied with an ox hair brush during the process of water gilding

Gold leaf has traditionally been most popular and most common in its use as gilding material for decoration of art (including statues) or the picture frames that are often used to hold or decorate paintings, mixed media, small objects (including jewelry) and paper art. "Gold" frames made without leafing are also available for a considerably smaller price, but traditionally some form of gold or metal leaf was preferred when possible and gold leafed (or silver leafed) moulding is still commonly available from many of the companies that produce commercially-available moulding for use as picture frames.

Traditional water gilding is the most difficult and highly regarded form of gold leafing. It has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years, and is still done by hand.

Chocolates with food-grade 23kt gold leaf decoration

Gold (and silver) leafs are non-toxic when labeled as food-grade and so can be used to decorate food or drink. They can be often found in a number of desserts including chocolates and Mithai.

In Asian countries, edible gold in particular is sometimes used in fruit jelly snacks. It was also used in coffee, especially during Japan's "bubble economy". In Kanazawa, where Japan's gold leaf production was centred, gold leaf shops and workshops sell green tea and hard candy with gold leaf within.

A recent trend has been the inclusion of floating bits of gold leaf in liquors such as Goldschläger.

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