RENOVATOR’S TOOLBOX
A Brief History of Decorative Painting
by CATE CORCORAN
When the historic homes we live in and admire in Brooklyn
today were spanking new, they were often enhanced
with decorative painting.
Special paint effects have a long history in the U.S., going
back at least to the beginning of the 18th century, and
continue to be popular today. Contrary to stereotypes,
houses before and after independence were bursting with
color and pattern. Dots and circles enlivened halls and
kitchens, and painted scenes and trompe-l'oeil vignettes
covered paneling surrounding fireplaces in New England
parlors, as Nina Fletcher Little’s “American Decorative
Wall Painting” documents so well.
In the Victorian era, decorative painting moved away
from scenes and freehand abstraction. During the Federal
and Greek Revival periods in the first half of the 19th
century, doors even in fine woods such as mahogany
were faux grained, and floor cloths were painted to resemble
marble. When Neo-Grec architecture came into
fashion in the 1870s, stenciling, polychrome, geometric
patterns and other decorative paint effects were popular,
historic photographs and illustrations of interiors show.
Entry halls, parlors and dining rooms were the most
likely places to receive decorative paint treatments -
often on plaster ceilings and wood ceiling beams.
In the late 19th century, paint effects were frequently
designed to enhance the existing architecture by emphasizing
panels on walls and ceilings or trim on cornices.
Ceilings were divided into geometric shapes, sometimes
around an oval center. Moldings and trims could be
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A detail of an intricately painted door at Olana. Photo by Susan De Vries.