Stone Panel Research Articles

Seeing and Photographing Your Visual Observations

Abstract Light can play tricks on your eyes. Deficiencies that are observable at 1:00 PM are not necessarily observable at 3:00 PM. Depending on the nature of the light, sunlight vs. daylight, an inspector may or may not observe a bowing stone panel. Depending on the building facade material, configuration, or texture, light may or may not illuminate a facade deficiency. Ornate facades cast shadows in sunlight. A crack or spall can be lurking in those shadows. The inspector's choice of binoculars, experience, and possibly his psychological disposition may influence whether or not he observes an existing facade deficiency. Recognizing the deficiency may truly be a challenge, but photographing the deficiency may be a greater challenge. The crack or spall that lurks in the shadow on a sunny day may be nearly impossible to photograph. Excessive sunlight that reflects off the facade may wash out a photograph. Automatic cameras typically grab all surrounding light for a photograph, but this may be too much or too little depending upon the item to be photographed within the frame. The ability to set your camera manually may be necessary. This paper discusses the nature of light and suggestions for observing building facades and for recording deficiencies.

Transformations et usages d’un motif : la table en panneau

Transformations and uses of a pattern : The panel table. Slabstone panelling appeared in the decorative vocabulary in France in the 1540s. The patterns are derived from antic inscriptions and imitate the slabs decorating Roman triumphal arches. Around 1555, a new type appears, the large projecting slab stone panel or “ panel table ”, completely different from the table alla’antica because of its size and its lack of ornamentation. Used on the pier or in the middle of the span, it stretches on the wall between the windows. When the facade is organized, it tends to spread all over the space between the horizontal mouldings and the pilasters. The panel table does not seem to go back to Antiquity or to renaissance Italian architecture. Its origin can probable be traced to the decorated façades which appeared in France in the second half of the 15th century. Rarely used in the 16th century, the panel table will be very popular in the 17th. Several characteristic shapes tire used simultanouslv, the one used most frequently being the flat, smooth and sharp-edged one, whose prototyp can be seen at Verneuil. The panel table, a simple and ecomnomic way of making a façade look grand, has its place in the hierarchy of ornaments.

Notes: (3) Inscribed Panel at South House, Liberton

A square stone panel with the initials W S and E Q carved in relief, together with the date 1671 is incorporated into the structure of South House. The initials are said to be those of William Stoddart, a former proprietor of the house, and of his wife Elizabeth White (Quhite).