Oliver Whitby is a home and gift shop on Rehoboth Avenue, near the convention center in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Before its opening on June 30, 2023, the store asked us for a gold leaf shop window to greet its first customers.
A father-and-son gilding job
Travis Brandon and his father, Brendon Brandon, did the window together. Brendon is a master gilder and brush artist who has spent his whole life in the sign trade. Travis learned the craft from him, and since then the two have worked side by side for more than 20 years.
The design puts OLIVER WHITBY in tall, narrow letters across the center of the glass. “Seaside | Town | Country” runs above the name, while “Quality Goods for Life and Home” sits below it. We hand painted the lettering and gilded it right on the window. Altogether, the job took two days.
Why a gold leaf shop window stands out
We gild glass the traditional way, with water and gelatin, on the inside of the window. It is slow work because it calls for precision and patience. However, the payoff lasts for years. As the sun moves, light travels across the letters, so the window looks a little different from morning to evening. To learn more about the craft of gilding, see our gilding guide.
In the news
Store owner Don Preston said it was an honor to work with us. He also called the finished sign a work of art that reflects the spirit of the store. In June 2023, the Cape Gazette covered the gold leaf shop window before the store opened. Read the Cape Gazette article.
A gold leaf shop window for your storefront
A gilded window tells people on the sidewalk that a business cares about quality before they ever open the door. Our shop is in Edgewater, Maryland, but we travel for glass gilding work from Washington, DC to the Delaware beaches. First, we start with your logo and your input. Then we lay out the design to fit your glass and gild it on site. You can also browse all of our glass gilding projects for more ideas.
More gold leaf work
- Water gilding on glass: gold leaf logos for Shinola in DC
- Window gilding: a gold leaf logo in Charlottesville, VA
- Gold leaf transom lettering for Dupont Studios in DC
- Gold leaf boat name: Regina Marie
- Custom quarterboard signs: hand-carved teak with gold leaf
- Personalized life rings with gold leaf lettering
Contact Designs & Signs
The quickest way to get started on your project is to send us an email.
We can also be reached at (410) 798-5115.