This post is part of a blog series revealing the table of contents of upcoming Issue Fifteen. As is our custom, we’ll be discussing one article per weekday in order to give you a taste of what is to come.
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Courtesy of Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
David Bayne – “Sheraton’s Red Oil: Experiments in Historic Finishes”
We imagine the pre-industrial world to be as sepia-toned as an old photograph. The muted browns and reds we see in touring historic homes and interpretive sites have become the color palette of "the old days." But how can we know? Because the rare original finishes in homes and furniture that survive today have been exposed to oxygen, sunlight, and wear-and-tear for centuries, they are fundamentally different than they were new. Their current appearance tells us little about how they looked 200 years ago.
Courtesy of Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Author and conservator David Bayne wanted a clearer picture. In working for the New York Bureau of Historic Sites, he sought to reproduce pieces for historic homes, including replicating original finishes. But not in a faux-aged sense; rather, how the finish looked the day the piece was delivered to the original customer. Utilizing period recipes and ingredients (various plant roots, oils, even brick dust), Bayne did a number of experiments with reproductions to find out how finishes were made, how they were applied, and how they aged over the years.
Bayne had the opportunity to watch reproductions age over a period of decades, and his observations and insights offer an interesting education for anyone interested in period finishes. The world, it turns out, was a lot more colorful than we might imagine.