by Trevor Yorke
FIG 5.13: Examples of the door furniture.
Ceilings and Floors
Plaster ceilings were relatively new at the beginning of the Georgian period. Timber framed houses usually had the underside of the joists supporting the upper floor open on view and in the best cases decorated. It was only with the influence of classical style in the late 16th century in the best houses and during the 17th century for most others that a plastered ceiling fixed to the underside of the joists became common. Laths, thin strips of wood, were nailed at right angles to the underside of the joists and the plaster built up in layers upon them with the first coat pushed hard up between the laths to make a good fixing.
In most houses the finished surface was left plain and painted white, with any decoration in the cornice around the edge. In the best houses plaster mouldings were applied, with earlier types having deeper mouldings and later shallower. Adam style ceilings, which continued to be popular throughout the second half of this period, had delicate mouldings with a central round or oval piece and panels or bands around the edge, many of which were applied ready-made from sheets of canvas or paper. Some of the finest ceilings were painted with classical scenes; Regency ones could be very heavy and simple in design, while others were decorated to appear as a blue sky with clouds. Ceiling roses, which were fitted for decoration and to collect soot rising from the oil lamp or candles below, were really a Victorian feature although they did appear in some Regency houses.
FIG 5.14: A ceiling from a ruined house showing the laths fixed to the joists and the plaster coated on top.
Solid floors in the basement and the ground level of some houses could be covered in marble or stone in the finest situation, or brick, quarry tile or just beaten earth covered in straw in service areas and basic urban and rural housing. Most floors were boarded, with planks of oak in the early and best houses and pine or fir in most others, often supplied from the Baltic as good timber here became scarce. Early Georgian boards tend to be wider but later on thinner pieces around 5–8 inches were used in the best houses as they distorted less, with planks 8–10 inches used elsewhere. Most were hand-cut boards and not always of regular size, butted up against each other and nailed through on top of each end. In the finest examples the nails were hit in at an angle into the cut edge which was then covered when the next board was butted up to it, hence hiding the nail head. Tongue and groove was occasionally used but machine cut boards were not widespread until the late 19th century. Again, if softwood was used, it was usually treated to simulate a better quality wood as a sizable part of the floor was left exposed.
FIG 5.15: Decorated plaster ceilings from large houses. The example on the left dates from the early 18th century and has deep moulding while the one to the right is an Adam style example and has shallow, delicate details.
Wall to wall carpets were a luxury that became fashionable for a while in the late 18th century and most were made in thin strips a couple of feet wide and cut and sewn together on site to fit the room. Others had a large carpet piece or rug in the centre of the room with the boards exposed around the edge. This was easier in the days before vacuum cleaners as it could be removed outside, although most carpet cleaning was done by servants on their hands and knees with dustpan and brush. A cheaper option was to use woven rush matting or floorcloths, the latter being canvas or cloth stiffened with linseed oil or layers of pigment and then painted with a pattern or an imitation of a better quality floor. They were used along halls and corridors and in lesser rooms like bedrooms and dressing rooms.
Walls
STRUCTURE
The interior surface of brick, stone and internal timber framed walls was either panelled or plastered. The former was the traditional method, which was still to be found in the early part of the period, with the old square framed panelling being replaced by classically proportioned pieces above and below the chair rail (see Fig 6.1). Plastering a wall had become popular in the late 17th century as it reduced the fire risk and most walls in late Georgian and Regency homes would have been finished this way (panelling remained in some later houses below the chair rail especially in the drawing room).
FIG 5.16: Examples of stone, quarry tile and floorboards from Georgian and Regency houses.
FIG 5.17: Examples of walls showing the plaster applied in layers, with the first two scored or pitted to give grip to the next coat. Some have been applied onto laths pinned on the brickwork, others were put directly onto the wall. These are from the ruined houses at Witley Court, Worcestershire and Sutton Scarsdale Hall, Nottinghamshire and are worth visiting if you wish to understand the structure of 18th century houses.
The plaster layers could be applied directly to the brick or masonry or onto thin laths nailed to the wall. The plaster was made from crushed limestone, heated to produce quick lime, and then mixed with water and left for a number of weeks to produce lime putty. This was then mixed with sand and water before being applied to the wall in three gradually thinner coats (animal hair was often put into the first coats for strength). The finished surfaces of the first two were scored to increase the grip of the next coat and each one had to be left to dry for another few weeks before the next could be applied.
MOULDINGS: DADO, CORNICE, PICTURE RAIL AND SKIRTING
The finished wall and ceiling were broken up and decorated by a series of elaborate mouldings in the more important rooms and fewer and plainer ones elsewhere. The cornice (or coving in its plain concave form) covered up the joint between the ceiling and the wall and was usually made from plaster or wood, with a series of shaped grooves and projections from classical forms (see Fig 5.18), or a repeating pattern often with an egg and dart or dentil feature along the bottom edge. Regency types tend to be simpler.
The dado or chair rail was usually made from wood as its purpose was to protect the wall from the backs of chairs, which were stored or grouped around the edge of rooms in the first part of the period. It too was moulded from a series of classical forms and later with a reeded form in the Regency period. As the table became a permanent feature in the centre of dining rooms and the chairs moved with it, the dado rail fell from favour and the picture rail a foot or so below the cornice, from which framed artwork could be hung, became popular.
FIG 5.18: The basic elements used to make up mouldings used in Georgian and Regency houses.
The skirting covered the gap between the wall and the floor and protected the wall in this vulnerable position. They tended to be simple in design with just a concave or ogee shaped moulding and a single beading along the top edge. They were usually a dark colour, brown was popular and practical, especially in the Regency period.
FIG 5.19: Examples of panelling (top three), cornice (bottom left), door architrave (bottom centre) and skirting (bottom right) from Georgian and Regency houses.
DECORATION
The walls could be finished in a number of ways. Painting was done on the plastered surface using distemper, a traditional recipe of chalk and pigment mixed with water and bound together with animal glue (in this period it was only oil bound types used on wood and metal work that were referred to as paint). Georgian walls were coloured with pastel shade paints, especially stone colours, greys, greens and pinks, although stronger colours were used in dining rooms and to highlight decorative details (for instance, gilded details on a light green background, which was popular in Adam’s interiors). In the late Georgian and Regency period stronger colours became more available and popular, especially after 1820, with rich orange reds and crimson as a background to set off the gilt framed pictures becoming fashionable in male rooms.
FIG 5.20: Wallpaper patterns could range from the elaborate classical arrangements with vases and husks (left), Chinese designs with simple stylised birds and foliage (middle) and in the Regency period strong striped patterns (right), in this case with anthemion motifs, a popular form from this date.
The alternative to paints was hangings of fabric, which were stretched over battens. Wallpaper
was at the time still hand-made and supplied in short sheets, making it very expensive and rare until machine-made mass production in the early 19th century allowed it to become fashionable in late Regency and Victorian homes. Where used in the finest houses, both of these types reflected the fashionable décor of the day, with Chinese patterns, classical designs and floral arrangements popular in the later 18th century, and stripes in the Regency period.
Windows
Most early glass was hand-made crown glass, which was blown and spun on a metal rod to produce a disc from which the small rectangles of glass were cut. This leaves an attractive distortion (curved and rippled), a slight green or blue tinge and tiny air bubbles, which distinguish original glass from the later smooth product. The bull’s-eye where the rod made contact with the glass, which is often a feature of period style windows today, was never used on Georgian houses and was usually thrown back in the furnace. Cylinder glass (where a long vessel is produced at the end of the rod and then cut open to produce a flat sheet) meant that larger panes could be produced although not of the same quality. Plate glass had been around since the 17th century but production of flat sheets, being very labour intensive and expensive, was mainly used for mirrors in Georgian houses. New methods of production of plate glass made it more widely available from the 1830s and resulted in Victorian windows having fewer glazing bars if any (due to this a small projection in the bottom corner of the upper sash, called a horn, was built in to give strength to the joint and is a way of telling later windows even if they do have glazing bars).
FIG 5.21: Details from internal shutters showing how they were locked in place by a central bar when closed.
Internal hinged shutters were usually fitted on the sides of windows, especially after the middle of the 18th century. They were stored in recesses on each side and hinged open with two or three shutters to cover the window, mainly to protect the precious furniture and fabrics from fading but also to provide privacy and extra security. Some later types could be stored below the window and pulled up. There would also be a series of coverings in the finest rooms, from outer curtains to lighter fabrics behind and, in some cases, pull-down blinds nearest to the window.
Lighting
The Georgian and Regency house at night would have appeared a very dim place, with small splashes of light and glowing embers from the fire. Most light sources were portable and could be carried around from room to room, so, for instance, there would not usually be a permanent light in the bedroom – the occupants would take candles up to bed with them.
Candles provided most light, ranging from cheap rush dips – these were no more than common rushes dipped in animal fat, producing a dim glow, a lot of soot and only lasting an hour at best – up to beeswax candles, which were very expensive and used only for special occasions, even by the well off. Dips were simply clipped into holders while tallow and beeswax candles were held in candlesticks, wall sconces (with mirrors behind to reflect the light) and, in the best houses, chandeliers.
Oil lamps were better although expensive but they became more popular as they were improved upon in the late 18th century. This was done by increasing the air flow to the flame so that it gave off more light and less smoke, and by raising the oil reservoir above the light to use gravity to enhance the flow of oil to the wick. Rape seed, olive or palm oil were typically used (the Victorians preferred paraffin oil, which being thinner meant the reservoir no longer needed to be held above the flame and later ones from this period have it below).
Although the first gas supplies were being laid on in the Regency period, at this date it was usually used in industry and street lighting; it was not until gaslights were installed in the new Houses of Parliament that they became popular in the home from the 1850s.
CHAPTER 6
Reception and Family Rooms
FIG 6.1: The drawing room was one of the principal reception rooms in which owners would display their wealth or taste, with lavish decoration. In this example, panelling on the walls (still in favour until the late 18th century), decorated plaster ceiling and a rich carpet would impress upon guests the standing of their host.
Large and medium houses
The role of the main rooms in Georgian and Regency houses was changing throughout the period. The open plan medieval hall had evolved into a number of principal rooms, with a general but not specific designation; flexible furniture, which could be pulled out and pushed back against the wall when not in use, reflected this multi-purpose nature. During the 18th century there is a gradual move away from this flexibility and rooms become more numerous and for specific uses, with more permanent furniture and fixings. This trend is most notable in the dining room.
FIG 6.2: A cut away showing one type of arrangement of rooms on the ground and first floor of a terraced house (top) and a detached house (bottom).
DINING ROOM
In large and medium sized houses the dining room was mainly used for entertaining guests and special occasions; a separate morning or breakfast room, or a front kitchen or parlour in smaller houses, would have been used at other times. In terraced houses it could usually be found at the front on the piano nobile or sometimes below on the ground floor and, as it was mainly used by the gentlemen after dinner, it had a very masculine feel to the furniture and decoration.
FIG 6.3: A view of a dining room as it may have looked in the late 18th century. It was a luxuriously fitted out room in the finest houses, with a marbled fireplace, decorative plaster ceiling, mahogany furniture and strongly coloured walls to best show off the gilt framed pictures.
Early dining rooms still retained flexibility, with the main table removable along with the chairs to the side of the room when the meal was complete. However, by the late 18th century, it was fashionable for a large table to be positioned permanently in the centre so the chair or dado rail was removed and a picture rail fitted from which gentlemen could hang artwork for the admiration of their fellows. The room also gained height, being about a foot taller by the Regency years than at the opening of the Georgian period, usually with a chandelier hanging from the centre of the ceiling in the finest houses. Dark or bold colours were often used on the walls to offset the gilt frames, with a sea green and later crimson red being popular although lighter schemes were also used. There would have been a sideboard from which the butler could serve the food and wine, a cabinet for the diners to help themselves to drinks after the meal when servants were banished, and card or games tables for gambling.
The times and arrangements of meals for the wealthy were different in the Georgian and Regency periods. Dinner was taken in the afternoon between 2 pm and 5 pm in the earlier part of this era, changing to a time that we ourselves would be more comfortable with – around 5 pm to 7 pm – by the early 19th century (most people away from the fashionable centres would have a main meal in the middle of the day). Dinner could begin with a starter and then two main courses followed; the first might include fish, ham, mutton or chicken, the second game, pies, tarts and vegetables (the latter were not popular early in the period as they were believed to be bad for you!). Desserts, including fruits, sugar, marzipan and even liquorice would end the meal.
When finished, the ladies would leave the room and the gentlemen would entertain themselves and drink, usually excessively. Without the convenience of inside toilets in most houses, the inevitable relieving of themselves was done within a pot passed around under the table or in a corner and stored within a sideboard or cupboard!
DRAWING ROOM
While the so called ‘gentlemen’ became steadily inebriated, the ladies retired to the drawing room, a more peaceful, feminine room where they would be served tea. This was a popular drink at the time but still expensive and was served weak and without milk in the style of the Orient. Tealeaves were kept under lock and key and when finished with were passed on to the servants to be used again or to be sold locally.
The drawing room (derived from the earlier ‘withdrawing room’) was situa
ted on the piano nobile in terraced houses and was either adjacent to the dining room or above it; in the latter case there would be a second similar room behind or a main bedroom in medium sized houses. It was a more flexible space than the dining room, being the place where guests were entertained by the family or shown into for sherry before a meal, and where ladies returned afterwards to admire artwork, play cards or for conversation. In medium sized houses it could also be used by the ladies for painting, crafts and reading and, in some later examples, even taking breakfast.
The furniture, as a result, was more flexible. Early in the period chairs and tables were set around the perimeter of the room with the centre being open but by Regency times a more relaxed arrangement of the furniture, which would be set in small informal groups around the room, was fashionable. A dado rail, therefore, remained popular, to protect the walls. There would often be built-in bookcases and many of the largest had double doors opening to the other room on the piano nobile, to create a larger space when entertaining.
