Matthew J. Mosca Historic Paint Finishes Specialist

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Matthew J. Mosca Historic Paint Finishes Specialist

With over 30 years of experience, Matthew J. Mosca is a nationally recognized consultant in the field of historic paint research and restoration.

01/28/2021

The cross section seen here is from the exterior brick surface of the 1867 William S. Culbertson Mansion in New Albany, Indiana. The initial finish was the yellow ochre finish, clearly seen on the brick substrate. Note the extraordinary number of paint finishes, including the sanded finishes, evincing the sand particles. At the time of construction all of the wood trimwork was finished with an off-white sand finish paint, contrasting with the yellow ochre body color. In 1867, New Albany anticipated growing into a major metropolis, however, it did not happen.

07/21/2020

Microscopy is now beginning on a project to complete the paint analysis on the remarkable John and Landon Carter Mansion in Elizabethton, Tennessee. The scope of this study is the second floor staircase and the two bed chambers. Date of construction has not been pinpointed, but is believed to be ca. 1780. The second floor is decorated with a marbling effect, which appears to be original and has not been overpainted. The marbling is created by the interaction of a lead white layer and a pink layer. In addition, the Carter Mansion has two remarkable overmantel paintings. The photographs shown here are all from the principal West Bedchamber.

05/05/2020

The historic paint finishes study of the Clifton Gardener's Lodge is just about completed, and while there was a great deal of documentary information that was missing, a few very important documents survived- and they were dated. The historic period is the life of Johns Hopkins, who died in 1873. Below is a photograph dated ca. 1900 that shows the Gardener's Lodge and Conservatory, which were constructed at the same time, completed by 1852. The Conservatory was demolished by 1932.

04/11/2020

Hello - I've been asked to post some additional photographs of the interior of Johns Hopkins 1852 summer home "Clifton". This is the recently completed Dining Room. The room was added to the original ca. 1798 house in ca. 1810, but the painted walls and ceiling were executed in ca. 1850 for Mr. Hopkins: those surfaces were conserved and restored to the highest museum standards. The carpet and window treatments are new, but based on period designs. Since Clifton is not an historic house museum, the room was furnished following a concept as if the family had continued to live in the mansion. Some of the furniture is from the 1850's, but there are pieces from the 1870's, 1920's and modern pieces. The room is lit with table lamps with silk shades. If you live in an historic house of any period, this may be the most sensitive and workable approach: no new intrusions [such as added permanent electrical fixtures] were needed. The room functions today and respects the integrity of the all important historic decoration.

01/30/2020

Recently, I completed the first phase of a two phase project on the surviving original interior elements of the Veterinary Hospital building completed in 1933 on the campus of Texas A&M University. The building was one of ten structures built to designs of Samuel C. P. Vosper. Vosper was trained in the manner of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and thus, these buildings are examples of "Architecture that Speaks" - the title of the book on Samuel C. P. Vosper by Nancy McCoy, FAIA, FAPT. The iconographic program of the buildings indicates the field of study to be taught within. Cows, horses, hogs and steer adorn the exterior of the Veterinary Hospital, as well as the Cadeusus of Hermes. The building suffered a major renovation in 1984, but some fragments of the interior survived, but are now difficult to access [as per the photo of the plaster bracket and beam, behind conduits and wires!]. A return visit is anticipated after the removal of the present HVAC systems, to continue this study, in 2021.

Before coming to Texas in 1929, Vosper worked in New York City on theaters and was very familiar with decorative painting systems used to create dynamic theatrical interiors. Several of the academic buildings have superb examples of decorative painting that we would associate with theater interiors. The use of aluminum flake paint to create specialty finishes is a common thread in these buildings. Here, at the Veterinary Building, the textured plaster walls of the Waiting Room Lobby appears to have been painted and glazed to emulate micaceous schist stone- this will be a spectacular effect. As part of the second phase, larger exposures of this remarkable finish will take place. Here are some photographs of the building and some photomicrographs of the original micaceous schist finish. I am eager to return to this site in 2021

01/01/2020

The restoration of the Clifton Mansion continues, and the Dining Room, which was a major undertaking is nearly complete. This effort took the talents of many people, starting with the ceiling stabilization by Hayles and Howe, additional plaster repair by Kevin Davis, and then the extraordinary conservation and restoration of the ca. 1850 decoration carried out by Laurie Timm, Gillian Quinn, Mariah Gillis, Ewa Pohl, Sue Crawford and Bridget Cimino with Thomas Moore Studios. All of this work was made possible by the generosity of the Friends of Clifton Mansion. Happy New Year to one and all!

10/24/2019

Progress continues on the restoration of the interior of the Clifton Mansion. The Dining Room has been underway for about a year now, and the removal of the overpaint is nearly complete. In the Dining Room, much of the extraordinary decoration was covered with lining paper before being painted, making the removal of overpaint much easier. Unfortunately not all of the surfaces were treated in that manner. The room was added to Clifton in the early 19th century by the builder Captain Henry Thompson: the forms of the room are from the Thompson period, but the painted decoration was done at the time of the renovations for Johns Hopkins, by Niernsee and Neilsen, Architects. It is likely that Ernst Dreyer was the decorative painter, though it is possible that an unknown carriage painter did the arabesque decorations and lining on the central grained yellow pine panels. This is one of the extremely rare examples of graining to emulate the simple building wood, yellow pine. The inpainting of the losses, and restoration of the dark wood graining is now underway. The work is being done by a great team of conservators and decorative painters under the umbrella of the Thomas Moore Studios. This restoration is also being generously funded by the Friends of Clifton Mansion. As the work continues, additional postings will be made to this site. An extraordinary room, completed by 1852.

07/19/2019

I am finishing up a paint analysis study at a beautiful Georgian house dating to 1765, the George Douglass House in Berks County Pennsylvania. The north west chamber [bedroom] has a small corner cabinet with a very early orange finish, prepared with red lead, known as "Minium" at that time; it will remain untouched. The principal woodwork color was a beautiful "Prussian blue color" a combination of lead white and Prussian blue pigment [closely matched to Benjamin Moore color: 1663]. There was a continuous painted baseboard of lamp black, and the chair rail cap/window sills were painted with a red ochre finish. The woodwork is simple, but strong. The mounted cross section shows the early finish, two layers 1a and 1b.

06/18/2019

Sometimes some of the most interesting projects are those done pro-bono. I am working on the remaining 2 houses from a group of four, one room with loft, houses built ca. 1795 in the waterfront Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore. These houses were quickly built to help relieve the housing shortage caused by the booming port activity. There is evidence for post and lintel construction with soft brick infill plastered and whitewashed on both the interior and exterior face. More research to be done, but considerable paint history. First: cross section from the facade German siding; Second: fragment of exterior plaster, south wall, now isolated behind the adjacent brick building; Third: street elevation, 2004, Fourth: cross section of the lime whitewash layers on the fragment from the south wall.

05/30/2019

The Grand Stair Hall has been completed, with the installation of the second pair of enameled glass windows. Better photos will follow, but I wanted to post a few now in celebration of the extraordinary work. The conservation work was beautifully carried out [Laurie Timm and Gillian Quinn were the lead conservators], with extraordinary in painting. All of this was made possible by the generous
support by the Friends of the Clifton Mansion.

04/13/2019

Just back from a trip to the "Stencil House" which was moved to the Ames Foundation grounds over a decade ago. A modest house [2 rooms and center passage, with garret rooms] the first floor was highly decorated probably ca. 1835 by an itinerant painter. The stencil work was done in distemper. Some extraordinary graining, executed in oil. Chrome green, a datable pigment [ca. 1820-date of introduction varies] is present. The graining shown on the door faces the exterior. The dado has mahogany grained panels and trompe-l'oiel rails and stiles. All of this is on board walls.

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216 East University Parkway
Baltimore, MD
21218

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http://matthewjmosca.com/

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