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Joseph Rose Senior's Site Workshop at Audley End, Essex: Aspects of the Development of Decorative Plasterwork Technology in Britain During the Eighteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2011

P. J. Drury
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Summary

Excavation within part of the former library at Audley End House, Essex, in 1979 brought to light debris from the plaster ceiling erected between 1753 and 1762, and much workshop debris relating to the decorative plasterwork executed throughout the new Great Apartments by Joseph Rose senior, to the designs of Robert Adam, in 1764-6. The latter material is used to demonstrate in detail the technology of decorative gypsum plasterwork. This is contrasted with the methods used by the stuccoist Thomas Clayton at Châtelhérault, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, c. 1742-6, and the eclectic technology evidenced in the earlier library ceiling at Audley End. Finally, the development of the technology of decorative plasterwork in Britain between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries is reviewed in the light of information currently available.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , March 1984 , pp. 62 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1984

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References

1 Beard, G., Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain (London, 1975), pp. 9–20;Google ScholarBeard, G.Stucco and Decorative Plasterwork in Europe (London, 1983), pp. 9–18.Google Scholar The latter includes, at p. 86, a garbled account of the discoveries reported here.

2 For a fuller introduction to the materials and their preparation, see Ashurst, J., Mortars, Plasters and Renders in Conservation, Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association, Paper 3 (1983)Google Scholar.

3 They are, however, known on the Continent: Sprengel, P. N., Handwerke und Künste in Tabellen, Bearbeitung der Erd- und Steinarten (Berlin, 1772), pp. 226–7Google Scholar, quoted in Beard, , 1983, op. cit. (note 1), p. 11Google Scholar.

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5 Drury, P. J., ‘Walden Abbey into Audley End’, in Bassett, S. R. (ed.), Saffron Walden: Excavations and Research 1972-80, C.B.A. Res. Rep. 45 (London, 1982), pp. 94–105;Google Scholar‘No other palace in the kingdom will compare with it: the evolutionof Audley End, 1605-1745’, Architect. Hist. xxiii (1980), pp. 1–39Google Scholar.

6 By Placido Columbani, c. 1781; preserved in the ‘scrapbook’ in the Library at Audley End.

7 The most recent account of the eighteenth-century alterations is in Drury, P. J. and Gow, I. R., Audley End (Official Handbook, H.M.S.O. 1984), pp. 60–6Google Scholar.

8 Drury, P. J., Excavations in the East Endof the South Wing of Audley End House, 1979 (1981),Google Scholar available from the National Monuments Record, Fortress House, 23 Savile Row, London WIX IAB.

9 See, e.g., Drury, , 1982, op. cit. (note 5), pp. 98–9.Google Scholar

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11 Essex Record Office (henceforth E.R.O.), D/DBy A364.

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14 Ibid., A259, p. 72.

15 Ibid., A258.

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25 Emission spectroscopy (by J. Evans) showed that the metalcontained less than 1 per cent tin and less than 0.5 per cent silver.

26 I am grateful to Mrs. C. M. Cunningham of Chelmsford Archaeological Trust for a report on this vessel.

27 Beard, , 1975, op. cit. (note 1), p. 17.Google Scholar

28 I am grateful to Hester White, Department of Urban Archaeology, Museum of London, for showing these to me.

29 Scottish Record Office (henceforth S.R.O.), Gordon CastleMuniments, GD 44/49/15.

30 Ibid., GD 44/49/9.

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32 Contaminated with a trace—less than 1 per cent—of gypsum.

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34 Average module (across five divisions) 203 mm.

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47 i.e. ceiling.

48 S.R.O., Marchmont Archives, GD 158/1303/2, kindlybrought to my attention by Ian Gow.

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53 Copy in R.I.B.A. Library.

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55 Ibid., p. 17.

56 Ibid., p. 26; much ‘wax for moulds’ at 2s. per lb was used.

57 Ibid., p. 88.

58 Ibid., p. 74

59 Ibid., p. 26.

60 Catalogue for the sale of ‘The Capital and extensive collection of Architectural Models, the property of the late ingenious Artist Mr Joseph Rose, of Queen Anne Street, East’; Christies, 10th and 12th April 1799, kindly made available by Hugh Roberts.

61 E.R.O., D/DBy A29/6.

62 Ibid., A49/1, 51/12 respectively.

63 Ibid., A44/II

64 e.g. ibid., A29/6, 32/2.

65 Ibid., A30/11.

66 Ibid., A259, PP. 68-73; A29/6; A30/11; A32/12; A44/11; A49/1; A49/9; A51/12.

67 Ibid., A364.

68 Listed in the 1799 sale catalogue, op. cit. (note 60).

69 The Wealth of Nations (London, 1776), ed. Cannan, E. (London, 1930), p. 5.Google Scholar

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