Architectural Finishes in the Built Environment

This essay collection reflects the expanding scope of architectural paint research into broader architectural finishes. Contributions from 14 countries cover topics including historic paint, varnishes, glazes, wallpaper, and finish replication, alongside conservation and restoration practices from around the world. Bringing together researchers, conservators, historians, and architects, the book showcases the latest advancements and fosters continued knowledge-sharing within the international paint research community.

Architectural paint research is a field that has grown and expanded beyond painted finishes into the wider realm of architectural finishes. As research continues in the field, periodic paint research conferences help disseminate this information and allow the international community interested in this field to discuss their findings and research. The 2008 International Paint Research Conference in New York City brought together researchers, conservators, historians, curators, and architects from 14 countries. Three days of proceedings included new information on varnishes, paint, glazes, wallpaper, and the replication of historic finishes. Conservation and restoration techniques from countries including Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and China were examined. This book, a compilation of papers presented at the conference, is a continuation of the dedication and desire on the part of the international paint research community to increase the body of knowledge by sharing its latest research.

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Key note speaker

Architectural paint research at American museums: an appeal for standards

Willie Graham

Research

A sharper focus: new techniques and findings at Colonial Williamsburg

Natasha K. Loeblich

The colors of Williamsburg: new analysis and the Chesapeake town

Edward A. Chappell

Paint analysis at Montpelier

Mark Wenger and Gardiner Hallock

Stenton and Mount Pleasant: revisiting the finish histories of two of Philadelphia's most treasured 18th-century houses

Peggy Olley

More than glass: Tiffany's decorative finishes

Jennifer Cappeto

Color and design for the masses: Corbusier and consumerism in commercial catalogs

Jennifer Kearney

Paint research, interpretation and communication

Line Bregnhoi and Mads Chr. Christensen

Historic materials and methods

White lead: it has a past but does it have a future?

Colin Mitchell-Rose

Copal resin and the practice of oil varnishing in the second half of 19th-century America

Andrew Fearon

'Layers of misunderstanding': the challenge of understanding, interpreting, and organising the results from architectural paint research

Jon BrAenne

'... with the feather edge of a Goose-Quill': experimental archaeology at the Little Castle Bolsover

Helen Hughes

Wallpaper

Wallpaper through the ages from the collection of the Architectural Investigation

Group: a brief history from the 18th to the 20th century

Laura Luse

Compensating for losses in historic wallpapers

T.K. McClintock

Case studies

From deciphering layers to gel cleaning: history and application of traditional and modern methods in the conservation of paint finishes

Lei Yong, Min Junrong, Guo Hong, Wang Shiwei and Liu Chang

The Qing dynasty architectural painting at Shuxiang Temple, Chengde: the decision

to conserve or restore

Lori Wong and Han Li

Restoring the colors of Thomas Jeff erson: beyond the colors of independence

Frank Sagendorph Welsh

The red coast of north Norway

Tone Marie Olstad

A re-evaluation of three period rooms in the Wrightsman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Mechthild Baumeister, Adriana Rizzo, Melanie Brussat, Erika Sanchez Goodwillie and Batyah Shtrum

The paint systems and decorative painting at the Templers Colony, Sarona in the Holy Land 1871-1947

Shay Farkash

The historic and decorative finishes of Virginia City, Montana: a case study

Jeffrey MacDonald

Glitz and glam: theatrics in the historical finishes of Timothy L. Pflueger

Katharine Untch, Katherine Petrin, Kitty Vieth and James Cocks

The colourful past of the Royal Festival Hall

Patrick Baty

Index,

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Key note speaker

Architectural paint research at American museums: an appeal for standards

Willie Graham

Research

A sharper focus: new techniques and findings at Colonial Williamsburg

Natasha K. Loeblich

The colors of Williamsburg: new analysis and the Chesapeake town

Edward A. Chappell

Paint analysis at Montpelier

Mark Wenger and Gardiner Hallock

Stenton and Mount Pleasant: revisiting the finish histories of two of Philadelphia's most treasured 18th-century houses

Peggy Olley

More than glass: Tiffany's decorative finishes

Jennifer Cappeto

Color and design for the masses: Corbusier and consumerism in commercial catalogs

Jennifer Kearney

Paint research, interpretation and communication

Line Bregnhøi and Mads Chr. Christensen

Historic materials and methods

White lead: it has a past but does it have a future?

Colin Mitchell-Rose

Copal resin and the practice of oil varnishing in the second half of 19th-century America

Andrew Fearon

'Layers of misunderstanding': the challenge of understanding, interpreting, and organising the results from architectural paint research

Jon Brænne

'... with the feather edge of a Goose-Quill': experimental archaeology at the Little Castle Bolsover

Helen Hughes

Wallpaper

Wallpaper through the ages from the collection of the Architectural Investigation

Group: a brief history from the 18th to the 20th century

Laura Luse

Compensating for losses in historic wallpapers

T.K. McClintock

Case studies

From deciphering layers to gel cleaning: history and application of traditional and modern methods in the conservation of paint finishes

Lei Yong, Min Junrong, Guo Hong, Wang Shiwei and Liu Chang

The Qing dynasty architectural painting at Shuxiang Temple, Chengde: the decision

to conserve or restore

Lori Wong and Han Li

Restoring the colors of Thomas Jeff erson: beyond the colors of independence

Frank Sagendorph Welsh

The red coast of north Norway

Tone Marie Olstad

A re-evaluation of three period rooms in the Wrightsman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Mechthild Baumeister, Adriana Rizzo, Melanie Brussat, Erika Sanchez Goodwillie and Batyah Shtrum

The paint systems and decorative painting at the Templers Colony, Sarona in the Holy Land 1871-1947

Shay Farkash

The historic and decorative finishes of Virginia City, Montana: a case study

Jeffrey MacDonald

Glitz and glam: theatrics in the historical finishes of Timothy L. Pflueger

Katharine Untch, Katherine Petrin, Kitty Vieth and James Cocks

The colourful past of the Royal Festival Hall

Patrick Baty

Index

• Edited by Mary A. Jablonski
• Edited by Catherine R. Matsen

"This excellently produced volume...contains a wide variety of material covering both interiors and exteriors, well put together and intelligently ordered...Altogether the volume is highly recommended." Studies in Conservation 56 (2011) 75
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This excellently produced volume...contains a wide variety of material covering both interiors and exteriors, well put together and intelligently ordered...Altogether the volume is highly recommended.

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