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Stenton, pictured here, was designed and built by John Logan between 1723-1730. Logan was a prominent man in Philadelphia and had served as William Penn's secretary and colonial representative. This building has been home to three generations of Logans and in the 20th century the responsibility of its preservation transferred to The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.  

Paint analysis has been ongoing at Stenton since the Colonial Dames took over stewardship. Pictured above is a reveal made by John Dickey in 1982 in the First Floor Parlor or Best Room. Documentation using digital photography and colorimetry of these previous reveals was also part of this current project at Stenton. 

The focus of the current study is the First Floor Parlor or Best Room. While paint analysis has been performed in this room previously, very few samples were taken from the two painted buffets or china cabinets flanking either side of the fireplace. The curator was interested specifically in whether or not there had ever been polychrome decoration (i.e. picking out the moulding and other elements in contrasting color). See the Project Proposal for more specific research questions. 

Overall of Buffet (a), so-called "sunrise arch" buffet

Overall of Buffet (b)

Archival photographs indicate that parts of the buffets did contrast with the rest of the decorative scheme. This image is from c. 1899. 

This post card, dated 1914 clearly shows the "Sunrise Arch" of Buffet (a) is painted in a contrasting color to the rest of the cabinet. 

Professor Richard Wolbers and I made two site visits to Stenton. During the first visit we documented previous paint reveals in the room and planned sampling locations. In the second visit 15 total samples were taken across the two buffets. All of the china objects were removed before sampling. Here you see me taking samples in Buffet (a) as Richard spots the ladder and offers guidance. 

Samples were taken from the edges of elements because paint tends to accumulate in these crevices and be preserved even if scraping or striping occurs on the rest of the surface. These areas are also more discreet for sample removal. 

Back at the lab I cast the cross sections and after curing, sanded and polished them through a series of micromesh polishing cloths pictured above.