Friday 14 September 2007

Portable Wainscoting, 1869

Portable Wainscoting

The image shows the product in use on the wall, stairs and floor.
A new product in 1869, strips of wood were glued to a length of flannel cloth. The wainscoting was generally 1/8 inch thick, while that used for flooring was generally 2/3 to ¾ inch thick.
It could be rolled, unrolled and kept on stock for sale like carpets. The wood strips were generally narrower than tongue and groove, and combinations of several hardwoods could be used to a pleasing effect. It was noted that it always required a baseboard.
Used as a floor covering, it could be laid in various ways.
It was described as easy to put up, “being fastened to the wall from the top with a rabbeted moulding or a fixture underneath, and firmly secured by screws or nails through the moulding or nosing to the studding. A rabbeted base secures the wainscoting at the bottom.”
It cost about half the price of tongued and grooved hardwood, and slightly more than oil-cloth, and since it was portable, it could be taken up when the owner moved. It could also be used as a countertop material.
To clean it, it was advised to use a damp cloth once or twice a week.

A Dining Room Ceiling design, 1869

A decorated wooden ceiling for a dining room.

The room is 18 x 22 feet. The ribs are of clear pine, with a head chamfer covered with narrow pine ceiling, headed, tongued, and grooved. These latter are two inches wide. The four small circular centre pieces consist of carvings in wood; likewise the large centre piece in the middle. The panels are bordered and finished with leaf pattern moulding. The various strips are covered with a coating of shallac of a light color, while the ribs are stained of a darker hue. The carved moldings as well as the raised work of the centre pieces are in gilt. The moulding in the panels consists of a half-round, gilt strip. The effect produced by a combination of a little gilt with the natural colors of wood in one of the most beautiful that can be obtained. Of course, in carrying out a design for a ceiling of this description, the side walls are made to correspond.

from...MANUFACTURER AND BUILDER, May 1869