Gesso for Wall Panels & Furniture

Reminiscent of Cordoba leather, our gesso wall panels and gesso-faced canvas create a bold, tactile statement for interior walls and furniture. The use of gesso in decoration goes back many centuries, appearing in gilded and painted decorative arts as well as the preparation of fine art surfaces. It is still used as a base for water gilding and as a ground for painting, while relief ornament can also be built up in gesso. The techniques De Ferranti has championed bring this traditional surface language into contemporary settings. We produce cracked and crackled finishes for walls, including curved surfaces where suitable, with raised relief patterns where required. The colour palette is extensive, as are the pattern possibilities.

Gesso Wall Panels and Historic Surface Craft

Traditional gesso is associated with gypsum or chalk bound with size, applied in layers and worked as a ground for painting or gilding. In pastiglia, it can be built into low relief before colour, burnishing or metal leaf is introduced. De Ferranti adapts this decorative vocabulary to wall surfaces and furniture, with finishes that can recall aged lacquer, embossed leather or timeworn gilding.

For related material thinking, explore De Ferranti’s Leather Floor & Wall Tiles, whose embossed surfaces connect naturally with the Cordoba leather reference, and Scagliola / Stucco Marble, another historic plaster-based decorative discipline. Reflective or metallic schemes may also draw on Mirrors - Bevelled Painted & Verre Églomisé and Embossed & Repoussé Relief Work in Metal.

Relief, Colour and Contemporary Specification

These gesso wall panels are principally conceived for interior vertical applications. Pattern scale, relief, crackle, colour and finish should be reviewed in relation to lighting, viewing distance, furniture junctions and curved or panelled substrates. Samples are especially useful because grazing light can intensify fissures, burnished areas and raised ornament. Custom colours and pattern development allow the surface to be coordinated with joinery, upholstery, metalwork and adjoining finishes.

Project Guidance and Enquiries

For project guidance, availability, pricing, samples or further information, please contact us. Your enquiry will come directly to De Ferranti, and we will be pleased to discuss suitability, quantities, lead times and options for your project.