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Historic paint analysis is the scientific analysis of architectural finishes, including not only paints but also metallic finishes and clear and translucent finishes used on historic buildings. The primary purpose of such analysis is to determine the color of the finish used at a particular time in the building’s history, usually the original construction, but not always. Secondary purposes include determination of ingredients such as media (water, oil, latex, etc.) and pigments (organic pigments, inorganic pigments, dyes, etc.). Paint analysis is also used at times as a dating technique for various building elements. Typical problems encountered in historic paint analysis include such things as paint loss, surface deterioration, newer materials, substrates, delamination, media and pigment deterioration, and alligatoring. Historic architectural paint analysis finds its roots in the early twentieth century in the United States. The historic preservation movement began in 1849 with the preservation of Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. Early preservationists began to realize that paints and finishes which had survived were very important but may not have been the original, or historic, finishes. Interest in historic wallpapers also developed with the interest in historic paint and color. One of the earliest endeavors came with the restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia funded by John D. Rockfeller in the 1920s. Early investigations by simple scraping of the finishes by Susan Nash of the surviving original buildings yielded a palette that became popularly known as Williamsburg colors. They were commercially produced and were used on innumerable Colonial Revival style buildings from the 1930s and onward. In the 1950’s and 1960’s serious efforts at investigating original paint colors were underway at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia by architect Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler. Her pioneering efforts introduced, for the first time in this country, the use of a stereo microscope to more closely examine the 18th century paints at Independence Hall. Batcheler also introduced the use of the Munsell Color System for matching and referencing original paint colors. Her landmark publication, “Paint Color Research and Restorationâ€Â, was the very first publication concerning the analysis of historic architectural paints for determination of original colors. At the same time, in the United Kingdom, microscopy of paint samples was developed by Joyce Plesters of the National Gallery, London who worked mainly with easel paintings but also with samples from wall-paintings. In the 1960’s and early 1970’s Morgan W. Phillips at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) became very involved with historic paint and color analysis, specifically at the Harrison Gray Otis House in Boston. Phillip’s definitive research and publications explained how oil paints discolor as they age. At the same time, E. Blaine Cliver, Historical Architect, who originally worked with Batcheler at the National Park Service (NPS) in Philadelphia, then with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, DC and later at the Northeast Regional Office of the NPS, became involved with historic paint analysis, especially in a laboratory in Building 28 of the former Boston Navy Yard. In the early 1970’s, as the field of historic preservation expanded, Frank S. Welsh joined the NPS in Philadelphia and began his research and study of historic paints with Penelope Batcheler, where he introduced the use of the National Bureau of Standards Color Name Charts, (NIST) for naming the colors matched to the Munsell Color System. As an independent historic paint color consultant one of his first major projects was Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. In the mid 1970’s, Matthew J. Mosca started working for the National Trust with Blaine Cliver. Later, as a preservation consultant, Mosca researched the historic colors of Mount Vernon. The advances in the science of paint color research by these individuals suggested that the popular Williamsburg colors had been matched to faded and aged finishes,. Therefore, during the 1980’s and 1990’s Colonial Williamsburg consulted with Welsh to undertake a comprehensive paint and color analysis on numerous buildings in the historic area. His research, “the first modern scientific paint analysis†there, confirmed that the Williamsburg color palette did not represent the actual historic colors. In addition he found that in many cases their early efforts had mistakenly matched later paint layers, even some that were Victorian. Welsh’s work extended also into the investigation, analysis and color evaluation of Colonial Williamsburg’s historic wallpaper collection, much of which has been published. The interest in scientific paint analysis spread to numerous higher educational institutions across the United States. The first such graduate program was started at Columbia University with James Marston Fitch and Charles E. Peterson, then later to Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania where Frank Matero, director of the Architectural Conservation Laboratory (conlab.org) and Professor of Architecture in UPenn’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, continues to lead in the educational aspects of technical architectural conservation. Many more now offer courses in the field including the College of Microscopy in Westmont, Illinois (collegeofmicroscopy.com) and the McCrone Research Institute (mcri.org) in Chicago. The College of Microscopy was founded in January 2004 as a member of The McCrone Group, Inc. while McCrone Research Institute was started by Walter McCrone, one of the pioneers in the field of chemical microscopy. The College of Microscopy specializes in (1) one-week intensive courses in all areas or disciplines of microscopy, 2) an undergradte program in Applied Microscopy in conjunction with Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois, and (3) a masters degree program beginning in 2010 in Applied Microscopy. McCrone Research Institute is devoted to the teaching of microscopy, especially that which is related to the polarizing light microscope (PLM). The College of Microscopy and McCrone Research Institute, although bearing similarities along with a history of McCrone, are two distinct and independently functioning organizations. Journals of the Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI) and of the American Institute for Conservation, (AIC), and The Microscope serve as the primary sources for the publication of scholarly articles concerning historic paint, pigment, wallpaper, fiber and color analyses. McCrone, Phillips, Welsh and Matero have authored the majority of the articles in these journals. Others include Downs, Alderson and Perrault. Many, except those written in The Microscope, are available through JSTOR. The principle multi-author book on the subject is Paint in America. In addition, "ModernMicroscopy.com", a free peer reviewed journal published by The McCrone Group, Inc. and the College of Microscopy appears online and contains articles of interest in many varied disciplines including art conservation and historic preservation. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Paint shops, paint and wallpaper were |
