ilifiifiii uNivERsmy PENNSYL\Ms|L\ UBKARIES THECORBIT-SHARP HOUSEATODESSA. DELAWARE: FINISHES ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONOF FOURINTERIORROOMS CatherineRuthMatsen ATHESIS Historic Preservation PresentedtotheFacultiesoftheUniversityofPennsylvaniain PartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeof MASTEROF SCIENCE 2003 ^ (^-^^-^^^1 je^^v-o Supervreor Reader .FrankOpMatero SusanL. Buck. Ph.D. AssociateProfessorofArchitecture ConservatorandPaintAnalyst GraduateCommitteeChair FrankIfi. Matero AssociateProfessorofArchitecture V\v)t, A^\s/A^A/o6)y'(>^005//^43'^ UNIVERSITY PENNSYLVANIA LipoaPiES Acknowledgements Iwouldliketoexpressmy appreciationtoseveral individualswhocontributed considerable attention, knowledgeandtimetothecompletion ofthisthesis. Firstandforemost, Dr. SusanL. Buckdeservestremendousrecognitionforher contributiontothiswork. Herknowledgeandenthusiasm forthestudyofhistoric finishesinspiredmetofocusonthisareaofhistoricpreservation. Shehasprovided continual guidancewithmy analysisandresearchandhasbeenespeciallygenerous with hertime, resourcesandknowledge. Iowespecial gratitudeand credittoJaniceCarlson, Dr. JenniferMassandDr. Chris PetersenattheScientificResearch andAnalysisLaboratory,WinterthurMuseum for theirexpertiseandhelp. Iam especially grateful toJanforintroducingmetothefield ofconservation scienceandforgrantingpermissiontousetheequipmentinthelab. IwouldliketothanktheentirestaffoftheHistoricHousesofOdessaforrepeated accesstotheCorbit-SharpHouse, especiallytocuratorStevePulinkafordiscussions abouttheproperty heknowssothoroughly. AttheUniversityofPennsylvaniaIwouldliketothankmy advisor, FrankG. Matero, RyntaFourie, and my classmates. Thankyoutomy parents,grandparentsandentirefamilyfortheirinterestandsupport. TableofContents TitlePage i Acknowledgements ii TableofContents iii ListofFigures v ListofTables viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Historical Context 4 Chapter2 Eighteenth-CenturyArchitecturalPaints: MaterialsandApplication 9 Chapter3 Summary ofPreviousPaint StudiesoftheCorbit-SharpHouse 20 Chapter4 AnalysisofInteriorDecorativeFinishes 28 4.1. Methodology 28 4.1.1. Cross-sectionmicroscopy 29 4.1.1.1. Reflectedvisibleandultravioletlight 30 4.1.1.2. Fluorescent stains 32 4.1.2. Polarizedlightmicroscopy 33 4.1.3. Instrumental analysis 34 4.1.3.1. FTERmicrospectroscopy 34 4.1.3.2. SEM-EDS 35 4.1.3.3. GC-MS 37 4.1.4. Colormatchingwithcolorimeter 38 4.2. Results-Parlor 41 4.3. Results-First-floor, northwestchamber 56 4.4. Results-Drawingroom 65 4.5. Results-Second-floor, southeastchamber 74 Chapter5 InterpretationofFinishes 81 5.1. Parlor 84 5.2. First-floor, northwestchamber 86 5.3. Drawingroom 93 5.4. Second-floor, southeastchamber 93 Conclusions 96