Palette of Historic Paints

cially as "drab colo"dead salmon" have or

PALETTE OF HISTORIC PAINTSby PATRICK BATY

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il=a-the eye, perliaps, thantltnee.ve'perhaps,tnantne?3.9^r9vruri3"ul.rr,,,.|,l.l

sive paint finishes of tl

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they are, however, beir

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been extended with tl

: ^ilE =rnied-not merely Trus

others undeclared-tessentialtorefertothedetailedallsuperiorwork''.Thiswasand heloful explanation printed achieved by a process known as

on the'r.u..i. of the'leaflet 1-A trial for the repainting of Adarn's drawing-roorn ceiling "flatting", which, as we.ll as,in-supplied with the paints. frorn Lansdowne llouse, now in the Philadelphia Museurn of Art volvtng an extra operatlon that

' 'The sort of effect achieved added to the cost of the job, was

!y uping a so--called "Palladian" colour on t .- -l unsuitable for vulnerable areas and exteriortlie doois and architraves together with- one I ,, : ., i. ] surfaces.based on untinted limewash"on the ceilins, I L I I Distemper was a less expensive mattand rhen having the walls painted in a coJ- I I I | finish widely used on plaster walls and ceil-n'r inqnired hw"that .,f

",lrr'-trleached srrerar | | I I inss. It was made with whiting' or Sroundour inspired by"that of sun-bleached sugar | | ings... It.was made,with,whiting, or ground

bass. is no doubt attractive in a room of.the chalk, bound wltn a glue slze maoe Irombags, Isnodoubtattractlvelnaroomollne urlarK, uuullu,wrLrr 4 Srus )rzL,rr:o".,t'Y'l'

-iEizoos.NonetheIess,ifthissortofthingffianimalbones,hornsorskin,andtintedwith*Jil1'i,f,:;'gh'.*t i.:tg;,:'l:i;tiJ* l, , ,,, ,+1, '-

j. :r, | | | ru*fij;JJgr."lJ;i,l:',',:,f;:'*'1i'1":"il:Aiadvantases 6f cheapness, the wide range oftints achfevable in it. the ease with whiih iL

could be made and^applied, and ihe speed|;J;n#11ffi.',":::',:t,lJ.ll#:u:i,Hl l 'r'i' '"I l:Tiif*'ilx5:'ilJ+l:to the w"ork carried out in the drawing room Et jt''r'rry1*:*:l of its, application. Being Ioosely bound, itto the work Carried out in the drawing roOm I ''i''ri:{s1!iiir*':""- ' I oI lts- applrca.tron' 5elng loosery ]founo, llfrom Lansdowne House (Fig l), where the could be. washedoll lor renewal, but lt was

Philadelphia Museum of Ariwii advised by T l -_1 t--- ---_-

1 not particu'larly durable.Dr lan Eristow and Morgan Phillips. ' I I | - . Th. pigments used for tinting both

fhir is I.,or to Lygg.it that.appealingdecorative effecrs willi"ot be achieved usin[ | | | some being considerabll lore, expensivesuch combinations of colours. Moreover, thEoriginal colour scheme may not n^ecessarily | ::::::::=::r:;:r!i::i:::::'-':"ir-'

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be ?he most attractive. but'it is often more bu-red earths, tended to be more frequentlyimportantinsigni{icant1Bth-centurybuild-|@*"l|r-lused.injs,wherethEdecoratio,1and,th6archi-ffil|-l^.l1.:.*|:.jli:'1^y11l..1.'^."9l'*:

^pp..i'o.".*t'atauste.eand'td1oi'rl,esst6T-^._--,=probI9m:1:::i1:T9yi,h'T^1ry^:l|:oi-,i" "y.r,

w-ith its stone-like wall surface and 2-sarnples of "Comrrron Colours": (ctock- hore expensive pigments. These commoncolo.irtomatch; butthateffectisexactly zt,isefrimtop left) stone, white, pearl, colours,-whichinclud.edwhite,stone.(initswhat the original designer was trying to "t".ri, chocolate, Laklwainscot, stoneo lead various forms), pearl, lead, crearr\ wainscot

Choice ofpaints for historic interiors is a subjectfraught utith controaersJ,Where noiriginit schente suruiues, knouledge of the paints auailable in thepast, and th. rul." that guided their use, utill help to ensure infornted decisions.

3-This recently restored and redecorated hallway in a house of about 1720 shows the stone colour favoured for such roorns in theearly lBth century. By courtesy ofPelharn Galleries

or oak, and chocolate (Fig 21. formed thebasis of most decorative schemes for manyvears.' In the main, the brighter and more ex-pensive colours tended io be more fugitiveind liable to discoloration, especially in anoil medium. Some pigments would reactadversely with otheri, or be affected by theatmosphere or the alkalinity of plaster walls.Severai colours could be achieved onlyin one or other of the two mediums, so

that there was no universal use of colour.Equallv. aithoueh possible in a paint, apaiticuiar colour"would not necesiarily be-available in a fabric, or vice versa. A good,clear blue, for example, was for many yearspossible only in distemper, and would nothave been used on woodwork. Bright yel-Iows, too, presented a problem -in an oilpaint u.ntilihe lB20s, and even then wereexpenslve.-

In the past there was a definite hierarchyof colour, rtlating to the cost of the pigme.ntsused and the nature of the area beingoainted. There is a tendencv to ienore thisind, in so doing, use colours ihat tiight h^rrebeen found in the public rooms of thesrandest houses in the back bedrooms ofmore humble terraces.

4-staircaseo No. I Greek Streetr Wl. DrIan Bristow prepared the colour schetne

There is also enormous confusion aboutthe oast itself. The inclination is to treat thewh6le of the period from 1774 to 1830 as

representing one architectural style. purelybecause the reigning monarchs shared thesame name. During this time, the simplewainscotted parlour gave way to the spa-^

cious drawing room. whose only vestige of

the earlv days was the chair rail planted onthe plasfer #alh. The austerity ofihe coloursof the Baroque and Palladian periods aresomehow confused with the neo-Classical"cheese cakes and raspberry tarts", whichIames Peacock wrote about in 1785." Ignorance of the symbolic purpose ofthe wboden cornice in a wainscotted roomleads to it beins painted in with the ceiling,instead of witli ihe wall. This makes littlesense, represenlinS, as it does, the entabla-ture of an implied architectural order. withthe main rnail area susgesting the column,and the dado the pedestal. Combined withthe pickins out of the stiles and rails oIthevrall'paneli. the result is a complete break-ine r;p of ihe architecturai rinity of theorlgrnaI."An analogy with.the playing of earlymuslc on authentlc lnstruments may De

drawn. Although that argument is by nomeans resolved,"our understanding has bcenincreased bv the debate. Is it time, perhaps,lor the oueition of historic colour to be d-is-

cussed more widely, instead of relying onour vague^preconceptions and notions ofsood taste/"

Photoqraplts: l, Dr lan Bristow: 2, lhe au-thor/ Papels and Paint Ltd: 3.4. Jutian LYieman'