Definition

• Ground.  Preparing a surface in metal working for some further action or the surface itself. In etching the ground is a gummy substance spread over a metal plate to preclude the acid from etching that area. In repoussé it is the surface itself from which the metal rises to form the detail. Like painting and drawing where a ground is a prepared surface, a ground is necessary for both etching and repoussé The ground in acid etching, composed of beeswax, resin and bitumen (or sometimes asphalt), performs a stop-off function where the ground has not been removed. (Other stop-off can be done with stop-off lacquer or stop-off varnish.)

  excerpted with permission from

  An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

  For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

  COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

  Roger W. Burdette, Editor

Relationships