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

Abstract

SummaryExcavation 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.