"I SOLD ALL MY FURNITURE, JUST TO BUY A BURNISHER..."

Whoever wrote those rhymes is a freaking genius. :) I'm new to burnishers, but I've liked the pictured two that I got from Talas (Brooklyn USA based). They're agate, numbers 27 and 31. I particularly like the flat top because it covers a lot of surface area... I'm lazy that way!

Also pictured is my first burnisher, a labradorite stone. But I've retired it since it has a small nick that risks streaking my work. Now it sits on my altar, an ornament to society. Much like Cennino Cennini thought women should.

https://www.talasonline.com/Agate-Burnishers

Yes, whoever thought up that rap should go into it deeper and continue it, was such a good start! ;-)

Those burnishers are great essential burnishers, like a starter set or a travel set. Of course you can go down the 'collect everything' route like me, but in practice, you will mainly use those burnishers anyway.

If you want to use gold, shell gold or gilt, it's best to have an entirely separate brush and burnisher and tool set for that.

If you want to do oil gilding (rather than the water based stuff we do for miniatures) then again, separate set.

And then other burnishers for other art/design applications, not miniatures, so keep your miniature set (eg above) separate.

Ornaments - reminds me of a passage in the Land of Green Ginger book (by Noel Langley, originally published by Arthur Barker) where the genie magicked Aladdin's mother the Widow Twankey into a decorative ornament! Those were the good ol' days... now women and mothers are contributing in all kinds of ways to society, who would have thought...! ;-)

Thanks for link to the US store for American friends!

I'm looking for burnishers, but they are seriously expensive! The places on etsy do not carry the shape like Nadia's No. 27. I have one burnisher with a pointy end that is smooth but is designed for working with precious metal clays. I don't really want a long handle and am looking for agates directly from gemstone dealers. Because I design beadwork I have lots of connections to that realm. I will want to share that info in another post.

As always, I love all the magical stories you tell, Vaishali!

Sounds lovely. You don't necessarily need a long handle and stones come in all shapes and sizes. You actually have more control with a shorter handle or none at all, sometimes. The ancient texts simple say that a 'stone egg' was used. So my cheapskate interpretation of that is to have a stone that is literally in the shape of an egg. They are so cheap too, in the Natural History Museum in London at least! Scour your local new age or gemstone shops (later, of course). Or yes, go your gemstone route. You'll find lots of interesting shapes for different things; main point is that they should be smooth and not streak/leave marks behind. I'm interested to know why and how burnishers are used for precious metal clays! And also, in a wider sense, how you could combine your jewellery with miniature painting. The most obvious thing for me (I can be very literal!) is to paint miniature portraits of family members and wear them on me all day long... that is not new and would be something just for me to do for myself. I'm interested in how you could be really creative about it!