Parcel-gilt is the technique of gilding only selected areas of a silver object, leaving other portions in plain or oxidised silver to create deliberate visual contrast. The word parcel in this context means partly rather than referring to a quantity of gemstones; the term derives from the Old French parcel meaning a portion or part, and survives in English jewellery and metalwork vocabulary almost exclusively in this technical sense. The technique was widely used in medieval and Renaissance European metalwork and continues today as a finishing option in liturgical and decorative silver and in some contemporary jewellery.

Technique and purpose

Parcel-gilding was traditionally accomplished by mercury fire-gilding (now largely superseded for safety reasons), in which a gold-mercury amalgam was painted onto the silver in the areas to be gilded and the mercury driven off by heat, leaving a thin gold layer fused to the silver substrate. Modern parcel-gilt is generally accomplished by selective electrogilding, with the silver areas to be left bare protected by lacquer or wax during the gilding bath. The result in either case is a gold-and-silver object in which the design selectively emphasises particular elements through colour contrast.

The purposes of parcel-gilding were several. Decorative emphasis is the most obvious: gilded inscriptions, figures, or ornamental detail stand out from a silver ground in a way that fully gilded or fully silver work could not match. Cost reduction was a real consideration in periods when gold was expensive and silver was abundant; partially gilding a piece used a small quantity of gold to dramatic effect. Wear protection was a third consideration: high-wear surfaces such as the bezels and cups of liturgical vessels could be gilded to reduce silver tarnish in those areas, while the body of the piece was left in silver.

Examples in jewellery and metalwork

Parcel-gilt features in medieval and Renaissance ecclesiastical metalwork — chalices, ciboria, monstrances, reliquaries — in which gilded interiors and figural elements complement plain silver bodies. Secular plate of the same periods uses parcel-gilt for highlights on cup rims, presentation panels, and engraved inscriptions. In jewellery, parcel-gilt is occasionally found in mounts and clasps where high-wear bezels are gilded for protection while the body of the piece remains silver.

In the trade

For Skyjems clients with interest in antique and vintage silver and silver jewellery, parcel-gilt features as a recurring technical category. Condition assessment of parcel-gilt pieces requires checking both the silver and the gilded areas for wear, with regilding as a possible (and disclosable) restoration in pieces with substantial wear to the original gold layer. Modern parcel-gilt jewellery, where requested, is straightforward to produce by selective electrogilding in our workshop.

Further reading

• GIA — metals and finishing reference
• International Gem Society — gilding techniques
• ICA — historic jewellery materials