Gold leaf makers in Mandalay

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Myanmar gold leaf is traditionally used to gild items - such as lacquerware, musical instruments, religious images, and manuscripts storage chests - for royal or religious use. Mandalay is the center of the gold leaf industry in Myanmar. In the manufacturing process, small lumps of gold are pounded into thin strips, then heated and flattened in a machine. The resulting sheets are repeatedly hand-beaten, then cut into small squares, placed between sheets of special paper, and wrapped in animal skin. Beaten again until they are no thicker than a layer of paint, the gold sheets are cut into squares of about 2 inches (5 cm), sandwiched between sheets of special paper, and sold in bundles.

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Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Mandalay, Myanmar
Photo credit: © Giulio Ercolani / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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