THE ROLE OF PAINT ANALYSIS IN THE HISTORIC INTERIOR

This article first appeared in The Journal of Architectural Conservation. March 1995: 27-37.

Introduction
The assumption made by the visitor to an historic house is that the setting and contents are
generally displayed in an objective manner. What is seen is how it would have been. But is this
always the case, and just how was the final look decided upon? Usually a great deal of thought
will have gone into the presentation, yet all too often, in spite of high standards of research and
display, an element of subjectivity will have crept in. Sometimes this may be more by design
than accident - indeed, recognizing the near impossibility of being completely objective some
administrators pay lip service to authenticity. They attach more importance to the history of
their own institutions, regarding them as cultural creations in their own right. The next worrying
step is to argue that an earlier attempt at restoration, no matter how flawed, is itself worthy of
preservation, and interpretation. The result is stagnation, and the rejection of new research.i

Unless the philosophy behind the presentation of a house is made clear to visitors, they may be
excused for being confused, and for questioning the scholarly reconstruction on those few
occasions that they actually see it.

Few would agree that historic houses should provide the visitor with little more than
entertainment and a safe haven from reality. That is in any case a service already admirably
provided by the authors of historical romances and the directors of period costume dramas.
Good museums should not act as guardians of our sensibilities, cushioning us from the
uncomfortable reality of the past. Fact is just as accessible as fiction, and the custodian should
make clear the reasons for the appearance of a house and its contents.

It may seem far fetched to invest the display of historic interiors with such importance, but it is
the study of their development that contributes to our understanding of our culture and its
influences.

While much research has been carried out on the contents of early interiors, and similar care
taken with the recreation of an early picture hang, or table setting, the colour of the walls has
rarely been accorded the same degree of serious attention.

There can be little excuse for this, since techniques do exist for the accurate investigation of
early painted surfaces. It is the reluctance of some authorities to consider the use of such
techniques that perhaps should be questioned.

Paint analysis
There are two principal purposes behind the analysis of the painted surfaces of an historic
building. The first and most obvious is to form an idea of how a room might have looked at an
earlier stage of its existence. The aim will usually be to identify the colour of a particular
scheme, or to see whether it had been given a special treatment such as gilding, graining, or
marbling.ii Facts known about the development of paint and pigments will often enable the
specialist to work out a rough date for individual layers of paint. Until recently, this sort of
information has largely been sought only for certain prestigious buildings, and so the examples
that are given here fall into this category. However, it may equally be obtained from a broader

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range of housing, about which less is known, and fewer records were made.

The second reason for analysis might be less concerned with the decoration and more with the
archaeology and the dating of a structure. Working alongside architectural researchers
preparing a detailed report on a building, the paint analyst can be used to determine when or
where changes have been made. The site of doors or windows that have been filled in, for
example, can be determined, as can the rough date of a new floor or extension. Ideally, the
investigation should only begin after documentary research has been carried out - research which
is likely to identify areas that have been altered, or that will lead to questions that can be
answered by analysis.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, a gradual investigation of the painted surfaces in certain of

their 18th century exhibition buildings has led to a clearer understanding of how the structures
developed. As a result, the architectural research department have been able to form an idea of
how the buildings were lived in, how they related to each other, and how their inhabitants
prospered.

Paint analysis can also be used to disprove myths. The analysis after the fire at Uppark enabled
the National Trust to learn that, far from being an undisturbed time capsule, redecoration had
taken place in that house throughout the nineteenth century.

In the Octagon Room, at Raby Castle, near Darlington, one of the initial aims of recent work
was to match the colour of the white painted dado and joinery, and then to redecorate. Analysis
established, however, that the room had been decorated once only, and that the present scheme
survived from the 1840s. All that was required in this instance was a careful wash down and
localised touching in of areas of damage. Far better and far less costly to have obtained this
information before the intended repaint.

Analysis may also be used to record the earlier schemes before they are destroyed. The surface
coatings may need to be removed because of a build-up of layers that obscure detail; because
wholesale removal needs to be carried out before major repair work can take place; or because
poor preparation has revealed itself. Once the paint has been removed nothing can be learnt of
the room's original appearance.

There are others who will use paint analysis as a guide and as a confidence-giver before devising
a new decorative scheme. They might take what appeals and discard what they consider the
more difficult findings - ignoring, perhaps, the gilding and the oak graining. There can be no
argument with this so long as no claims are made as to the authenticity of the new scheme.
Sadly, however, the fact that analysis has been carried out is often used as an excuse for the
result. The reasons for the decisions are often not made clear, and left for others to make their
assumptions.

The present situation

During the last fifteen years, the question of paint analysis has cropped up at some stage in many
of the larger restoration projects. Indeed, it has been used with great success by Dr Ian Bristow,
its leading exponent, at such sites as the Breakfast Room at Pitzhanger Manor, in Ealing,iii and in
The Casino at Marino, near Dublin,iv but equally the results have been less well handled.v Until

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greater awareness is made of the procedures involved in the analysis of earlier decorative
schemes, its potential will never be fully realised.

Methods of analysis
The basic techniques of paint analysis have their origins at the beginning of the nineteenth
century.vi Technical developments have led to refinements, but essentially the investigation of
architectural Paintwork consists of three principal processes:

The first consists of the making of cross sections, which can be examined under a microscope.
The second process requires the careful removal of each of the layers to reveal what is shown in
cross section. The third process involves the analysis of the constituents of particular layers.

Cross sections
The number of samples will depend on the complexity of the room and its known history. A
single room may require as many as a hundred samples, each measuring about half an inch, to be
taken from suitable representative areas. The location of each sample is recorded and each one
is carefully numbered. Being very fragile and brittle, they are then set in a clear polyester resin in
order to support them during the next stage of the investigation. The paint chip, held firmly by
the resin is sawn in half and rubbed down with a succession of progressively finer wet and dry
abrasive papers to ensure a completely smooth surface. The aim will be to present an
unscratched and optically clear face to the lens of the microscope.

To be of most use, the samples should be complete, and those taken from wood and plaster
should still be attached to a fragment of the substrate. Ironwork is less easy to sample, but mill-
scale or shiny metal flakes can often be seen, if the sample has been taken correctly.

An attempt must now be made to work out which was the priming coat, which the undercoats,
and, most importantly, which the top, or finish, coats. Sometimes, if the layers are very different
in appearance, this is a fairly straightforward matter, however, very often there is doubt about
the exact number of decorative schemes involved, especially when there are several schemes of
the same colour, one after another. The use of carefully selected stains can help differentiate the
layers.

The same process may also be used to gain an idea of the structural integrity of the paint layers.
Their likely adherence to the wall and their inter-coat adhesion can be gauged by looking at the
composition of each layer. A sign of the times perhaps, but an investigation may well be initiated
by an insurance company rather than an architect, and will often stem from accusations of bad
workmanship. The sheer passage of time has led to a stage where some of the paint has begun
to shell off the walls of buildings of a certain age. The combination of poor preparation, a varied
sequence of paint types, and the weight of many overlying coats of paint all contribute to such
horrors. Unfortunately, it occurs most frequently after repainting, and is usually accelerated by
the damp conditions that result from overflows and leaks. To redecorate in such circumstances
without identifying the extent of the problem could lead to major paint failure, extensive
remedial work and further redecoration.

Layeringvii

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Whilst a cross section allows one to see the sequence of paint layers, further tests must be
carried out to determine the colour of individual schemes. However, this process can only make
sense once a cross section has been made, and, using a drawing or photograph of the
stratigraphy as a guide, the individual layers are carefully exposed using a combination of
solvents and mechanical abrasion. The aim is to uncover the layers as shown by the cross
section, and to expose a small area of each for colour evaluation.

The traditional method of carrying out a "scrape" using a scalpel is a slow and very inaccurate
method of exposing the earlier layers. It is often more effective to make a small crater with a
knife and then to sand the edges to a gradual slope, the paint layers widening as the surface is
rubbed down.viii The finished result will look like a bull's-eye, or target, with the full sequence of
coats revealed.

Pigment analysis
The third process adopted by the specialist involves the analysis of the constituents of key layers
of paint. The individual pigment particles can be isolated and identified, often providing
information on the age, colour, finish and purpose of a particular layer. This will usually be done
using the polarising microscope, but occasionally a scanning electron microscope (SEM) can be
used to confirm or deny the presence of a particular element. The positive identification of
Titanium, for example, will indicate that a paint layer is unlikely to predate the 1920s.

Using one or other of these instruments, what might appear an olive green scheme, as a result of
layering, might be shown to contain no more than Prussian blue that has been affected by the
alkaline nature of the plaster on which it had been applied.ix

Its critics
There are some who dismiss paint analysis because the findings conflict with their own long-held
views on historic decoration. Their good taste is likely to be affronted by pre-Goethean notions
of colour harmony.x It may also be felt that analysis will necessarily lead to the recreation of an
earlier scheme, possibly one that is at variance with the tried and tested approach adopted by an
institution in the treatment of its properties.

Apart from the very real threat to the arbiters of taste and to many involved on the periphery of
historic decoration, paint analysis is not something to be frightened of. It is merely a tool, and
one that should enable a more objective approach to be taken in the presentation of historic
buildings, and lead to a better understanding of the past.

There is little doubt that because the contents of a room would have changed in the two hundred
years since it was first decorated, the recreation of an original scheme as a matter of general
policy is controversial. The post-fire restoration of what had initially been a bright white in the
Saloon at Uppark would be a very difficult setting for those who had become used to its aged
and mildly faded contents. To some, however, the mocking up of the room to its pre-fire grubby
off-grey with artificial wear and tear may be as disturbing as the brashness of the bright white.
At least in this example, the decision was based on the restoration philosophy adopted at the
beginning of the project, and was only taken after a very comprehensive investigation of the
paint had been carried out. Whether or not Repton's original intention for the room is made
clear in the new guide book remains to be seen.

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In the majority of cases the scientific examination of the Paintwork in a room is not even
considered, erroneously linked as it is with the unsympathetic use of modern materials. Fear is
expressed that the contents and faded fabrics of a room will be overwhelmed by an 'unnaturally'
fresh wall colour. This worry of a perceived mismatch has been used as an excuse for not even
trying to establish what colours were actually used. Instead highly subjective allowances are
made for 'discolouration and fading' and 'tasteful' colours introduced.

In fact, cross sections taken from a considerable number of early interiors reveal that rooms
were generally repainted at fairly frequent intervals - sufficiently often for the paints to show
little sign of the deterioration that is occasionally mentioned. The early house-painter knew
precisely which pigments reacted adversely together, and which were unstable. Their manuals
often contained tables of those that were subject to change by the action of white lead, iron,
"sulphuretted hydrogen" or light, for example.xi The house painter who ignored these basic rules
would have retained few clients. Undoubtedly there were eighteenth century 'cowboy'
decorators, but in normal circumstances the slowly fading contents of a room would have been
regularly overpowered by the septennial upheaval. Why then should this suddenly be regarded
as a problem?

Perhaps the more important consideration when redecorating is the type of paint used in such
sensitive surroundings. Modern paints, in carefully selected colours, may well be the answer for
most needs. However, in order to avoid the discomfort still felt by some when confronted with
the recreated Adam scheme in the Lansdowne House Drawing Room, use might be made of
paints compounded of authentic or near-authentic materials. These will mellow in much the
same way as those originally used, continuing the cycle mentioned above.

Pseudo-analysis
Needless to say, as it seems an easy procedure to make a so-called "scrape", there are a number
of people practising a form of Pseudo-analysis, merely with the aid of a blunt penknife, and
invariably without having taken cross sections. Indeed, one often hears that the decorative
scheme in a particular house has been reinstated as a result of the making of "scrapes".

There are several dangers in relying on such primitive "scratch and match" techniques: the first
being that it is very difficult to know when one has scraped through one or even two layers if
there are a succession of similar coloured schemes. Typically, early layers of stone colour or off-
white are confused as undercoats, and if the third or fourth decorative scheme is a bolder colour,
it is this that is often mistaken as the first. The penultimate scheme of a deep pink on the walls
of the Music Room at Kedleston is perhaps the best known example of this obsolete approach.xii

Needless to say, when this technique is used, the impression given will often be that the research
on the paint colour has been as thorough as that on the hanging of the paintings, for example.
The result may well be an attractive scheme, but one that has more to do with fiction than fact.

One other problem with relying on "scrapes" is that one sees only what the colour has become,
not necessarily what the original colour was. The reason for this is that the oil medium of the
early paint yellows when put into darkness by the application of later paints.xiii Few "scrapers"
will be aware that the "green" that they are looking at may in fact be a blue distorted by age.
Indeed, none would be able to positively identify the pigments used in a decorative scheme by

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scraping alone.

When first exposed, it might be thought that the original colours were murky and drab, the sort
of colours that until recently would be regarded as suitably subdued to fit in with our
preconceptions of the 18th century decorator's palette. However, having exposed the original,
scraped, samples to ultra-violet light for a number of hours, in order to get rid of the yellowing
nature of the oil medium, one can see the colours as they would originally have appeared. Gone
are the putties and drabs, to be replaced by much brighter tints. Imagine how different would be
a reconstruction based on such differing colours.

If ever in doubt about the quality of the paint analysis in a building where it is alleged to have
been used, a request to see the report will quickly reveal what method has been used. Visible
discomfort is often encountered on even the most high profile projects.

It is depressing to see that the techniques for investigating early paint colours have been written
about many times in the thirty years since the layman's guide first appeared,xiv and yet it is still
regarded as the province of the boffin and the aesthetically maladjusted. How much longer must
the visitor to our historic houses rely on the divine good taste of the decorator to inform him,
especially when the guide book is unclear or even evasive? Certainly, there is plenty of room for
decoration, but the custodians of these buildings should think clearly before allowing themselves
to be intimidated, or worse still, selective about their presentation to the public.

Patrick Baty

REFERENCES

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i
The introduction has drawn heavily from: Chappell, Edward A., Social Responsibility and the
American History Museum. Winterthur Portfolio, Vol 24, No 4, Winter 1989. Winterthur Museum
and The University of Chicago Press, pp. 247-265.
ii
Welsh, Frank S., Paint Analysis. Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol xiv,
No 4, 1982, pp. 29-30.
iii
Bristow, Ian C., The Restoration of John Soane's Colour Scheme in the Breakfast Room at
Pitzhanger Manor, Ealing. ASCHB Transactions, Vol xi, 1987, pp. 43-48.
iv
Bristow, Ian C., The Casino, Marino: An Account of the Technical Investigation of the Paintwork
and Redecoration of the Interior. ASCHB Transactions, Vol ix, 1985, pp. 40-44.
v
Hiesinger, Kathryn Bloom, and others. Drawing Room from Lansdowne House. Philadelphia
Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol 82 Nos 351-52, Summer 1986. Whilst meticulously researched and
examined, a harsh unchanging effect has been created by the use of unsympathetic materials in the
redecoration.
vi
The early identification of pigments is discussed by Stephen Rees-Jones in: Early Experiments in
Pigment Analysis. Studies in Conservation, Vol 35, No 2, May 1990, pp. 93-101. One of the earliest
accounts of the examination of paint stratigraphy using methods similar to those adopted now was
given by A.D. Whitehead in: The Micrography of Paint Films. Journal of the Oil & Colour Chemists'
Association, Vol xxii, 1939, pp. 139-148.
vii
The use of the word "scrape" is best avoided, this is generally used as a pejorative. See Pseudo-
analysis.
viii
Phillips, Morgan W., Weiss, Norman R., Some Notes on Paint Research and Reproduction.
Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol vii, No 4, 1975, pp.14-16.
ix
Recently encountered by the author while investigating the ceiling of a late 17th century garden
building in Greenwich, London.
x
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). German poet, whose experiments with prisms led him to
see Sir Isaac Newton's spectrum in an alternative way. His Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colour) of
1810 was to prove very influential in early 19th century England.
xi
Field, George, Rudiments of the Painters' Art or a Grammar of Colouring, John Weale, London
(1850). Pearce, Walter J., Painting and Decorating, Chas. Griffin and Co. Ltd., London (1898).
xii
The room has very recently been repainted in a more appropriate stone colour. See Bristow, Ian C.,
Repainting Eighteenth-Century Interiors. ASCHB Transactions, Vol vi, 1982, pp.25-33.
xiii
Phillips, Morgan W., Discoloration of Old House Paints: Restoration of Paint Colors at the
Harrison Gray Otis House, Boston. Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol iii,
No 4, 1971, pp. 40-47.
xiv
Batcheler, Penelope Hartshorne, Paint Color Research and Restoration. Technical Leaflet 15.
History News, December 1963.