THE INTERIOR--PAINTING AND GILDING.
Reasons for Painting a House.
The love of neatness and elegance which distinguishes the cultivated
from the rude man in the decoration of his dwelling, is not the only
motive for these interior fittings of a modern house. There are in many
instances manifest advantages, in relation to dryness and durability,
resulting from such arrangements. Such is the case with respect to
one of the two processes which will occupy the present chapter. In
noticing the services of the house-painter, it will be found that they
are conducive to something more than our love of colours and tasteful
decoration, for they greatly promote the durability of wood and iron
work. Wood of almost every kind is liable to injury from the effects of
the atmosphere, if left unprotected; but when coated with oil-paint,
its power of resisting those effects is much increased. Cleanliness is
also more easily preserved where paint is employed. If a room door,
for instance, were not painted, it would require the same scouring and
cleaning which an uncarpeted floor so often receives, though perhaps
not so frequently. When we consider, therefore, that durability,
cleanliness, neatness, and pleasing decoration, are all derived from
the judicious employment of oil-paint in a house, we shall conclude
that a painter renders important service in the preparation of a
dwelling-house.
Materials used in House-painting.
House-painting, in most cases, consists in laying on several coats of
some mineral substances mixed up to a fluid consistence with _oil_.
There is no other liquid body which is found to have so many advantages
for this purpose as oil; for although turpentine, milk, beer, spirit,
and other liquids are occasionally employed, oil is the standard
material with which the colouring substances are mixed. The colouring
substances, as well as the oils, employed in painting, are very
numerous; and we can only offer a brief description of the principal
among them.
_White lead_ is the most valuable of all the colouring bodies, since
it enters into the composition of almost every other. It is made
by exposing sheet-lead to the action of vinegar, by which a white
substance is procured. _Bougival white_, and _Spanish white_, are
mineral substances procured from abroad. _Chrome yellow_, _Turner’s
yellow_, _Massicot_, _Naples yellow_, _King’s yellow_, _Orpiment_, and
_Ochres_, are various bodies of a yellow colour, some derived from
earths, others from ores, and others from chemical treatment of metals.
_Vermilion_, _Carmine_, _Cochineal lake_, _Madder lake_, _Red lead_,
_Indian red_, _Venetian red_, &c., produce various tints of red and
crimson; but the materials themselves are derived from very different
sources. Vermilion is a compound of sulphur and mercury; Carmine and
Cochineal lake are prepared from an animal substance; Madder lake from
a vegetable; Red lead is an oxide of that metal; while the others are
derived from various kinds of earth. For a _blue_ colour, the painter
employs _Prussian blue_, which is a compound of prussic acid and iron;
_Indigo_, derived from a plant growing in the East Indies; _Blue
Verditer_, a nitrate of copper; and some other substances. Most _green_
paints are made of salts of copper, such as _Verdigris_, which is an
acetate of copper; _Scheele’s green_, an arseniate of copper; _Green
Verditer_, a nitrate of copper, and _Brunswick green_, a muriate of
copper; together with two or three earths, such as _Italian green_,
_Saxon green_, &c. _Browns_ are generally produced by a mixture of
_black_ and _red_; but there are several earths which yield a brown
colour. These are the principal colouring materials employed by the
house-painter, for almost every intermediate tint or grade of colour
can be produced by mixtures of two or more of the above-mentioned
materials, in certain proportions.
The liquid principally employed to mix with these dry colours is
_Linseed oil_. This is obtained by beating, pressing, or heating, from
the seed of the flax plant, the _Linum usitatissimum_, which grows in
most parts of Europe. This oil has so much _fatness_ or unctuousness,
that it would dry with extreme slowness were not some further
precautions taken. It is boiled with _litharge_ and _white vitriol_,
in certain proportions, by which it has a drying quality imparted to
it. _Nut oil_ is sometimes used in painting: this is procured from
the kernels of walnuts, beech nuts, hazel nuts, and other kinds of
nut, by a process similar to that by which linseed oil is obtained.
_Oil of turpentine_, or _turps_, is largely used by painters, as it
has a drying quality which counteracts the fatty nature of linseed
oil, in combination with which it is generally used. It is obtained
from a liquid or sap exuding from a species of pine tree, in North
America: the sap is crude, or common turpentine; and by a process of
distillation, the _oil of turpentine_ is obtained from it, leaving
a substance behind which constitutes yellow resin. _Oil of spike_,
_oil of lavender_, and _oil of poppies_, are sometimes used by the
painter; but not very frequently, on account of their expense; they
are vegetable preparations. _Pilchard oil_, (obtained from the fish,)
_common tar_, _coal tar_, and _oil of tar_, are used occasionally for
rough exterior work. _Varnish_, _size_, _beer_, _milk_, and one or two
other liquids are used to a small extent in some processes to which the
painter has to direct his attention. Varnishes are mixtures of various
resinous bodies with spirit; and size is a jelly obtained by boiling
parchment, leather, parings of hoofs, or of horn, or some similar
animal substance, in water.
Preparing the Paint.
Such being the principal materials from which the painter prepares
his paint, we proceed to speak of the mode by which he mixes them.
The colours are mostly purchased in that form which is called _dry
colours_, that is, in coarse powder or small lumps; and they have to
be reduced to fine powder before they are mixed with the oils, &c. If
they contain gritty particles of sand, &c., the colour is put into a
tub or pan, and water thrown upon it, and mixed up with it. The gritty
particles soon fall to the bottom, and the remainder is poured into
another vessel, where, in a short time, the colouring substance falls
to the bottom, and can be obtained by pouring off the water; after
which the powder is dried. But if the substance is one which will
dissolve in water, or if it is not very gritty, it is ground up to
powder in a dry state.
When the substance is reduced to fine powder, the painter begins
to incorporate the oil with it. He has a _grindstone_ of marble or
porphyry, on which he places a small quantity of the dry colour,
and moistens it with a little oil. With a large flattened pebble,
called a _muller_, he then grinds up the powder with the oil, until
both form a perfectly smooth paste. That portion is then removed
by a palette knife, (which is a broad thin knife,) and placed in
an earthen paint-pot. Another small portion of powder and oil is
ground up in a similar manner, and put into the paint-pot; and so on,
until a sufficient quantity has been obtained. When this is done,
the pot contains paint, which is too thick for use; to liquefy it,
therefore, a given quantity, which is determined by experience, of oil
or turpentine, or a mixture of both, is added, until the paint has
acquired a consistence--thick enough to prevent it from running into
drops when laid on the work--and thin enough to make it work with ease.
The Process of Painting.
Supposing the carpenter to have left the doors, the windows, &c., in
a clean and smooth state, the painter’s first office is _knotting_.
Knots are round places in a plank, in which the grain of the wood runs
through the thickness of the board, so as to show the ends of the pores
at the surface. These ends absorb a greater quantity of paint than the
other portion of the wood, so that if the same number of coats were
given to all alike, the knots would have an ugly, dead appearance, in
consequence of the absorption. The painter, therefore, gives the knots
more paint than the rest of the wood-work; and the preparatory coat,
which is laid on the knots only, is called the _knotting_. The paint
used is generally red lead, and boiled oil; or sometimes red lead and
size. When this knotting is dry, the _priming_ is applied, consisting
of a thin coat of white paint. White is used for the priming under
almost every variety of circumstances, whatever the subsequent colours
may be. This white paint is a mixture of white lead, linseed oil,
and oil of turpentine, and is laid on, as are the subsequent coats,
by means of brushes which are too well known to need a lengthened
description. They vary from a quarter of an inch to three inches in
diameter, and are generally made of hog’s bristles bound round with
string, or sometimes with tin.
When the priming is dry, the painter proceeds to fill up all the nail
holes and other irregularities, with putty. This he does by means
of a pointed knife, with which he works in small portions of putty
wherever they may be needed. It is then ready for the second coat of
paint, which is thicker than the first, generally white, but sometimes
coloured. Painting appears to be a very easy process, but in common
with other trades, it requires considerable practice before skill
can be attained. After having worked the brush over the wood-work in
every direction, so as to completely cover every part with paint, the
“laying-off” is effected by drawing the brush smoothly over every part
in the direction of the grain, particularly at the stiles and panels
of doors. Brushes of various sizes are employed, by means of which the
workman can paint the fine mouldings, beading, &c., as well as the
broader surfaces. The more skilful the workman is in the use of his
tools, the less do the marks of the brush remain visible when the work
is done.
As each coat of paint dries, another is laid on, until sufficient has
been applied. The number varies from two to seven, according to the
part which is to be painted, and the means of those who have to pay
the painter; but in general, four coats is the average quantity which
new wood-work receives. It is the last two coats only which are of
the colour selected, as those which are preparatory are seldom other
than white. On some occasions it is desired to have the last coat
_glossy_; but in others _dead_. To effect these differences, all that
is necessary is, to vary the oil with which the colour is mixed. If
a glossy surface is required, linseed oil is principally used; but
if a dead surface, oil of turpentine predominates. It is frequently
seen that the walls of staircases, and other large surfaces, are, when
finished painting, totally without gloss. This is effected by what
is called _flatting_, that is, a coat of paint mixed wholly with oil
of turpentine: the turpentine soon evaporates, and leaves the colour
without gloss on the walls; whereas, when linseed oil is employed, the
oil dries and hardens, instead of evaporating, and assumes much of the
character of a varnish. If no linseed oil is employed in flatting, it
is called a _dead flat_; but if a little is added, in order to produce
a faint gloss, it is called a _bastard flat_. This part of the work
forms one of the most unwholesome in which the painter is engaged,
since the oil of turpentine, which is constantly evaporating during the
process, is found to be extremely prejudicial to health.
As we are here speaking of a _new_ house, we need not detail the
process followed in repairing an old one. Nor is it necessary so to
do even in respect of the processes themselves, for they are nearly
the same for old work and new. The principal points of difference
are these:--that in old work, greasy and dirty spots are washed with
pearl-ash and water, or with turpentine; that the old paint is rubbed
smooth with pumice-stone, or, if very rough, burned off; that a smaller
number of new coats of paint will suffice; and that a larger proportion
of turpentine is used than in new work.
Graining and Marbling.
We have in the above details confined our attention to that more
general and economical kind of house-painting in which a large surface
is painted of one uniform colour. But the department of house-painting
in which the taste of the workman is more fully developed, is that in
which imitations of various species of wood and marble are attempted;
these processes are called _graining_ and _marbling_. We may perhaps
call this a humble branch of the _fine_ arts, since the workman
prepares a _picture_ of a piece of wood or of a slab of marble; but
whether this be a correct term or not, it is certain that skill in this
branch depends more on taste and observation than on fixed rules.
Graining and marbling are sometimes done in oil-paint, but more
frequently in _distemper_, that is, with a colour mixed with beer or
some other liquid more limpid than oil; in this latter case, as the
graining would not have a durable character, it receives one or more
coats of varnish. We will endeavour to give a general idea of the mode
in which graining and marbling are effected.
The kind of wood usually imitated in this way is _oak_, or _wainscot_,
as it is more generally called. When this is imitated in oil, the last
coat of paint previous to the graining is made of rotten stone, white
lead, and linseed oil, and is of a light oak colour. On this is laid
the graining colour, which painters call the _megilp_, and which is
a thin paint composed of oil, rotten stone, sugar of lead, and white
wax. When this has set a little, the painter draws over the surface
the teeth of a kind of comb, called the _graining comb_, by which an
imitation of the grain of oak is produced; these grained lines, to make
the imitation more close, are drawn in a wavy direction. The workman
then wraps a little piece of leather round the finger, and delicately
wipes off the colour from small spots of various forms, by which the
light parts of a piece of oak are imitated. In this state, the grain
and the light parts have rather a harsh appearance, to remove which,
a soft dry brush is worked over the whole in such a manner as to make
the various parts blend with one another. A little Vandyke brown is
then mixed up into a smooth paint, and with this the dark veins are
imitated, by means of a small brush or pencil.
But in graining oak in distemper, the graining colour consists of other
materials; many receipts are given, but one is Vandyke brown, burnt
umber, and raw umber, mixed into a paint with beer or ale. This is laid
on with a brush, and the subsequent processes of producing the grain,
the light patches, the dark veins, &c., are much the same as in oil
graining, with this exception, that the grain is produced by _veining
brushes_, instead of _graining combs_. When the whole is dry, it
receives one or two coats of varnish, to act as a preservative.
By processes very similar to that just described, mahogany, rose-wood,
satin-wood, maple, pollard oak, zebra-wood, walnut-wood, elm, and other
species of wood, are imitated. For mahogany, the ground is Venetian red
and white lead, and the graining colour is Sienna, or Vandyke brown,
ground in beer. For rose-wood, the ground is lake, vermilion, and
flake white, and the graining colour Vandyke brown, ground in ale. For
satin-wood, the ground is the same as for light oak, and the graining
colour is Oxford ochre, ground in ale. The other kinds of wood are
imitated by grounds and graining colours more or less resembling those
now mentioned. The manual use of the tools is more difficult for the
variegated woods than for oak. Satin-wood, and some other kinds, have
large spots or patches of a lighter colour than the rest of the wood,
and of a peculiarly soft appearance; these are imitated by letting a
sponge fall on various parts of the wet graining colour, by which some
is wiped off, and the edges of these parts are then softened by means
of a badger-hair brush, called a _soft even_, which is drawn lightly
across the light and dark parts, whereby the sharp edges are softened
and blended.
The imitation of marble is effected in a similar manner to that of
wood. For white marble, or rather, that which is slightly marked
with dark veins, the walls are first whitewashed, and then washed
with whiting and milk, to obtain a fine white surface. Lamp black,
damp blue, Indian red, and some other colours, are then laid on with
very fine pencils or brushes, in fine but irregular lines, so as to
imitate the veins of the marble. _Sienna marble_ has a ground of
yellow ochre; _Florentine marble_, one of white, black, and Indian
red; _dove-coloured_ marble, one of light lead colour; and _black_
and _green_ marbles have the colours designated by their names. On
these grounds are pencilled the light and delicate veins traversing
the surface in every direction, according to the colour and character
of the veins in the marble to be imitated. There are then various
contrivances made use of, by which a softness is produced in all
the veins; this is of more importance in marbling than in graining,
since much of the beauty which we acknowledge to exist in marble is
undoubtedly due to the exquisite softness with which its colours are
blended. The kind of marble called _porphyry_ is imitated in a singular
manner. This marble is spotted all over in various colours; and the
imitation is therefore spotted. A ground is laid on of the proper
colour, and a brush is dipped into a mixture of vermilion and white,
and after being allowed to drain nearly dry, is struck against a piece
of wood, by which a sprinkling of small spots falls on the surface. The
brush is then dipped into another colour, and a similar process gives
a second sprinkling. This is done a third and sometimes a fourth time,
according to the colours of the spots in the marble to be imitated. The
mica, quartz, and feldspar, in granite, are sometimes roughly imitated
by similar means.
Whatever be the kind of marble which is imitated, it is varnished after
the marbling is completed, in order both to give it greater durability,
and to imitate the beautiful polish which can be imparted to marble.
Gilding, as an Interior Decoration.
Supposing the internal decorations to have proceeded thus far, we
may next say a few words about the costly material _gold_, as applied
in furtherance of these embellishments. This is only of limited
application, and in the better class of houses; but as gilt mouldings
frequently form the finishing part of the papering of a room, and as
the houses of most persons contain some articles which are gilt, we
will give a slight description of the processes followed by the gilder,
but without reference to any particular article of _furniture_, since
that is a department into which we do not profess to enter.
A _metal gilder_, or _water gilder_, is a different workman from
the _carver and gilder_, who gilds various articles of wood or
composition. The former lays a thin coating of gold on articles of
metal, by means of mercury and of heat, an employment of an extremely
unhealthy character. The carver and gilder lays a surface of leaf-gold
on ornaments, frames, or mouldings, made of wood, plaster of Paris,
papier-maché, or composition.
If the gold were laid on the bare material by any sort of gum or
cement, it would not adhere permanently, nor would it have that
brilliancy of appearance which the natural lustre of the metal is
calculated to produce; above all, that dazzling surface, known as
_burnished gold_, could not be so produced. The gilder, therefore, lays
on a certain thickness of such substances as experience has taught him
will answer the proposed end. There are, doubtless, many substances
which would answer for this purpose; but the course which is actually
adopted we proceed to describe.
The Process of Burnish-Gilding.
We will take, as an instance, a long piece of the moulding which the
paper-hanger applies in the way to which we have alluded. This is cut
out to the proper hollow or reeded form by a carpenter, who employs
planes suited for the purpose. The wood which he uses is of a kind
tolerably free from knots and holes: and when the moulding is ready,
it passes into the hands of the gilder. The first thing done is to
wash it with a mixture of whiting and parchment-size, made quite hot,
and almost as limpid as water. The size used for this and for other
purposes required by the gilder, is obtained by boiling cuttings of
parchment in water until a stiff jelly is produced.
When the moulding is dry from the application of this preparatory
wash, any small holes that may exist are stopped up with putty, and
the moulding is ready to receive five or six coatings of a very thick
mixture of whiting and size. Those coatings are laid on moderately
warm, by means of a brush, each coat being thoroughly dried before the
next is applied. By this means the moulding is coated to the thickness
of a sixteenth or twelfth of an inch, by which the fine squares and
hollows produced by the plane (if there happened to be such in the
moulding) would be liable to be stopped up: to prevent this, modelling
tools of various forms are drawn along the wet whiting, so as to
preserve the original pattern in tolerable condition. The whole surface
is then smoothed by small pieces of pumice-stone worked to fit the
various parts of the moulding. The stones and the whiting being kept
constantly wetted, and the former worked steadily over the latter, a
smooth and even surface is attained.
When the moulding is dry after this smoothing process, it is further
smoothed with sand or glass paper, and is then coated with five or six
layers of _burnish gold size_. This is a very peculiar composition of
suet, black lead, clay, parchment-size, and other ingredients, mixed to
a stiff consistency. These successive coats or layers are well dried
after each application; and after one or two other processes by which
the gold size is rendered smooth, the moulding is ready to receive the
leaf gold.
Gold, in the form in which it is thus used, is one of the thinnest
substances which the art of man has ever prepared in a solid form,
since it would require more than a quarter of a million of the small
sheets into which it is beaten, to make a pile _one inch_ in thickness.
A solid piece of gold is rolled into the form of a ribbon by means of a
flatting-mill: and the gold-beater then reduces it to the thickness--or
rather thinness--to which we have alluded, by means of hammering.
The gilder receives this leaf gold in the form of sheets or leaves
about three inches square, inclosed between the leaves of a small book.
He blows out some of these leaves on a leather cushion surrounded by a
parchment border on three sides; this border, is to prevent the gold
from being blown away, the fourth side being left open for the future
proceedings of the workman. The gilder supports the cushion on his left
hand, and with a knife in the other, he takes up one of the leaves
of gold, and by dexterous management, spreads it out smoothly on the
cushion. He then considers the width of the moulding, (which is laid
before him,) and determines how he can best cut up the leaf of gold so
as to adapt the pieces to the width of the moulding:--if for instance
a slip one inch in width will cover the width of the moulding, he cuts
the leaf into three equal pieces. He is next provided with a flat
camel-hair brush, called a _tip_, the hairs of which are from one to
two inches in length, and laid parallel with great regularity.
His tools being thus ready, he wets a small portion of the moulding by
means of a camel-hair pencil dipped in water, and, taking the _tip_ in
his right hand, he lays the hairs on one of the slips of gold, which
slightly adheres to it. This slip of gold he transfers to the moulding,
where it instantly adheres by means of the water with which the latter
is wetted. Another portion is wetted in a similar manner, and another
slip of gold laid on, one end of which is made to lap a little way
over the one first laid on. A third slip is now laid on in a similar
manner; and by this time the first leaf of gold is all used. A second
is therefore laid out smooth by means of the knife,--cut into three
pieces,--and laid on the moulding as before. This process continues
until the moulding has been gilt in its whole extent. We may remark,
that the moulding is placed in an inclined position, the higher end
being first gilt: this is done in order that the water should gradually
flow off from beneath the pieces of gold after they are laid on, to
facilitate the drying.
When the gold--or rather the wetted gold size which is beneath it--has
attained a certain degree of dryness known only by experience, and
which occurs in a time varying from one to twelve hours according
to the state of the atmosphere, the gold is _burnished_ by means of
a burnisher made of flint, agate, or bone. This, if carefully done,
produces a brilliant gloss, but could not be at all attained without
the layers of whiting and gold size under the gold. Sometimes a portion
of the moulding is preferred, for relief and contrast, to be left dead
or _matt_, as it is termed. In this case the burnisher is not used; but
the gold, after it is dried, is merely secured by a thin clear cement
or varnish of parchment size.
The Process of Oil-Gilding.
Sometimes no burnishing at all is required, while a degree of
durability which cannot be conveniently obtained with burnish-gilding
is desired. In this case the moulding is gilt in _oil gold_, by a
process differing in many respects from that which we have mentioned.
For oil-gilding a ground of whiting and size is required, as in
burnish-gilding, but not in so great quantity. After the application of
a few coats of whiting and size, the moulding is smoothed in the manner
before described; and in some cases a few coats of burnish gold size
are applied, but not always. The next process is to wash the moulding
with two or three coatings of strong size, by which it acquires a gloss
somewhat similar to that produced by varnish, and which has the effect
of preventing the absorption of the substance next employed.
The moulding is now ready to receive the _oil gold size_, which is
an exceedingly smooth mixture of ochre and oil. This is laid on in a
stratum as thin and smooth as possible; and after being set aside for
some hours, it acquires a peculiar degree of clamminess between wet
and dry; when it is ready to receive the coating of gold. The gold is
blown into the cushion, spread out, cut into slips, taken up by the
tip, and applied to the work, in the same manner as in burnish-gilding;
but the moulding is not wetted with water, the partially dry oil gold
size serving that purpose. The gold is, in this case, pressed down into
the hollows and crevices of the moulding, by means of a piece of cotton
wool; and when the whole is gilt, a soft brush is lightly applied,
by which the gold is worked into small depressions, which it would
not otherwise have reached, and the superfluous gold is rubbed off.
The gold is now left as it is, or is washed with transparent size, or
receives a coat of varnish. In either case it becomes in a short time
so far hardened as to be susceptible of washing without being rubbed
off.
Gilding Enriched Ornaments.
The description which has been given of the process with reference to
the mouldings used by the paper-hanger will also apply to most other
articles with which the gilder is concerned. But in proportion to
the elaborate nature of the article must be the care bestowed by the
gilder. This particularly applies in the case of an elegant carved
looking-glass frame.
The richly ornamented frames, window-cornices, mouldings, &c., which
form a great part of the work of the gilder, are in general not carved
in wood, but are cast in moulds, and are made of a tough and durable
composition formed principally of glue and whiting. The ornaments,
when cast, are fixed on wood frame-work or foundation, and in that
state pass into the hands of the gilder. His mode of treating them
is somewhat different from that required by a straight plain piece
of moulding:--the material itself does not require so many layers of
whiting and size as those articles which are made wholly of wood; and
the difficulty of smoothing intricate and ornamental surfaces renders
many precautions necessary.
Sometimes the cornice of a room, or a portion of it, and also the
central ornament of the ceiling, are gilt. This is generally done in
oil gold; and as the material of which they are made, viz., plaster of
Paris, very much resembles whiting, scarcely any of the last-mentioned
substance is required to be applied by the gilder.
We may here state, in connexion with what has been said about gilt
mouldings for rooms, that the paper-hanger fixes them to the wall by
means of broken needles, or headless brittle needles made for the
purpose. The pieces of moulding are cut to the required length, and
mitred, so as to join accurately at the corner; after which they are
fastened to the wall by driving in some of the needles at distances of
two or three feet.