Search results

Start typing

Gold at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.

Coloured Gold

Gold is a soft metal which is usually alloyed with other materials to give it strength. These alloys can be used to alter the colour of the gold. Gold with fewest alloys retains its distinctive yellow colour but when zinc or nickel are added the gold has a white tone, with copper it appears red and with silver it becomes green.

This technique was perfected by gold box-makers in eighteenth-century France who would often use three or four shades of gold to create a single object. The renowned jeweller and goldsmith Carl Fabergé was fascinated by the technique and revived it in the late nineteenth century as a decorative effect used on the exquisite luxury pieces produced in his workshops. Some of these objects, together with the type of works which inspired them, can be seen in the case on the left.


The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.