gold beater:
(plural: ‘gold beaters‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘g’ in this word rhymes with the letter ‘g’ in the word “garden”)
a skilled worker whose job is to make very thin sheets (leaves) of gold by beating lumps of gold with a hammer (these days ‘gold beating’ is done using machines),
an Indian gold beater
When we look at a grand gold frame of a painting, we actually see the craftsmanship of a gold beater who beats gold lumps into gold leaves and the delicate work of a gilder who applies those thinner-than-paper gold leaves on to the frame.
Gold beaters are known to have been in existence since the ancient Egyptian times, and, quite surprisingly, the present gold beaters follow the same old methods and use almost the same old tools in the process of making gold leaves.
Gold beaters spends days to make good quality gold leaves, but get very little pay for their hard labour.
