New introduction to the 2011 edition of
Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain
Geoffrey Beard
With a new introduction by Richard Ireland.
In his introduction, Richard Ireland provides a very useful survey of the materials and methods used that have come to light in the intervening years of research and practical application.
The following extract from the Introduction assesses the lasting significance of
Dr Geoffrey Beard's work.
Dr Geoffrey Beard’s extensive career has incorporated several overlapping subjects producing a significant contribution to our understanding of the decorative arts. His intensive and systematic scholarship commenced with a study of nineteenth-century cameo glass, before expanding his research into Georgian Craftsmen and their Work (1966). This research built on and extended that of Laurence Turner’s Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain (1927) and Margaret Jourdain’s English Decorative Plasterwork of the Renaissance (1926), and was to eventually be developed into a comprehensive gazetteer of many of the previously unknown craftsmen, their methods and the practices that fashioned the fabulous finished works that had hitherto been the principal focus of scholars’ attention.
He was co-founder of the Furniture History Society in 1964, editing its journal for the first ten years (1964–73) and frequently contributing himself. Following a career in museums, he became Director of the Visual Arts at Lancaster University 1972–82, during which time he published many seminal books including Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain (1975). He was Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections from 1986–94. His books on furniture include The National Trust Book of English Furniture (1985), Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660–1840 (1986) co-authored with Christopher Gilbert and English Furniture 1500–1840 (1987). His published works on interiors have included Craftsmen and Interior Decoration in England 1660–1820 (1981), Robert Adam’s Country Houses (1981), The National Trust Book of the English House Interior (1990) and Upholsterers and Interior Furnishing in England 1530–1840 (1997). He has also published books on selected architects including The Work of Robert Adam (1978), The Work of Christopher Wren (1982), The Work of John Vanbrugh (1986), as well as that of the outstanding wood carver in The Work of Grinling Gibbons (1990) and a wide-ranging study, The Compleat Gentleman: Five Centuries of Aristocratic Life (1993). In 1982 Geoffrey took early retirement from Lancaster University and moved to Bath, where he and his wife still live. He was awarded the OBE in the New Year’s honours list for services to Heritage in 2008.
One of his earliest and most significant achievements, long acknowledged as a pioneering study in the field of plasterwork, is his landmark Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain (1975) which has left him inseparably associated with plasterwork. This was joined by Stucco and Decorative Plasterwork in Europe (1983). The quality and extent of research filled a gaping void in the literature that had not hitherto been addressed. The body of earlier studies principally concentrated on stylistic developments. Plasterwork as a material had been minutely observed and examined. Stylistic changes and developments had been tracked – historic fabric meticulously plotted and every element of plaster enrichment recorded. Nearly every facet had been explored to determine the ‘what’ of plaster. Geoffrey’s scholastic scalpel cut deep beneath the decorative surface to explore the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of plaster. For the first time the many and varied complex mechanisms and relationships that had harnessed and developed such creativity and dramatic displays from such inert base materials were explored.
As is evident from the rich selection of works, his expertise and scholarship is extensive indeed, with his published books on English furniture sharing as important a position as that of his plasterwork in his oeuvre. As Geoffrey noted in the opening line of the original preface to this book, ‘It should not be claimed for plasterwork that it is as important a decorative medium as painting.’ This might offer some explanation as to why the subject matter had attracted less scholarly attention than it might merit. However, this can only be part of the story. The decorative arts are awash with attractive subjects with more readily-mined rich seams of documentary evidence. Plasterwork is at once of simple stuff and simple to grasp, yet as opaque and unyielding as the material itself. What Geoffrey applied was the systematic, relentless pursuit of documentary evidence into often pioneering research archives of banks as well as the more conventional repositories such as Parish registers and private and international archives. In a period where footwork was yet to be eased by the explosion of rapid and effective mass communication and distribution of information, his determination to unearth and pursue the bleakest of clues cannot be underestimated. It is surely the difficulty of unearthing and substantiating such a mind-numbing scope of buried evidence that had previously screened plaster from such a deep and incisive exploration of its craftsmen.
The ‘Select List of Plasterers’ is the core resource at the heart of Decorative Plasterwork. It traces bills and all manner of documentary evidence to ascertain the intricacies of patronage, craftsmen and provenance – to name but a trio of elements, disentangled from the dense web of lists and registers. In this book Geoffrey owns, ‘it has not been possible to publish every name in my files. Thousands of names…would have to be added. The list which does appear includes most of the plasterers who are likely to have worked in the great country houses.’ He goes on to state ‘it is difficult for one person to issue a complete dictionary. A dictionary of craftsmen is needed, and all of us would be royally served if only three or four of us would compile it.’ In later works Geoffrey adds and extends his list of craftsmen across furniture and interiors and royally these lists have certainly served. Geoffrey’s very particular brand of systematic detective work and scholarship laid a foundation for the understanding of this plastic and versatile material as enduring as the plaster itself. It has been paramount for the depth and merit of the research that has followed since. It is this relentless pursuit of the understanding of the craftsmen and the manner in which they worked that singles out Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain as such a pioneering and ground-breaking work. At last, scholars had a work worthy of the subject matter.
The devastating fire at Uppark House of 1989 proved to be a significant turning point in the UK for the practical archaeological research of eighteenth-century plasterwork and the subsequent conservation, repair and reinstatement of in situ freehand modelled decorative plaster. Ultimately, the National Trust’s resolve to restore, coupled with the insurance position for total reinstatement, was crucial. This provided the catalyst to stimulate further scholarly research drawing upon the resources that historians, archaeology and scientific analysis could employ to shed new light upon the subject. Previously, where such wholesale reinstatement was ordered, it would typically be carried out using plaster of Paris and moulds to fabricate a cast replacement. Such methods provide a very poor aesthetic substitute to the freedom, individuality and three-dimensional expression of the original in situ freehand lime plaster modelling techniques.
Geoffrey’s book was my first call in the 1980s when setting about studying the information then available to gain the wider understanding necessary for the conservation of decorative plasterwork in historic buildings. His book provided an invaluable source of documentary research with which to help illuminate archaeological evidence in the search to untangle the many myths that surrounded the physical practice of modelling and plastering. Uppark provided a unique opportunity to research the surviving salvaged eighteenth- and nineteenth-century decorative plasterwork enabling the methods and materials used to be more fully understood. Together with technical studies undertaken at English Heritage by John and Nicola Ashurst, the information gleaned enabled craftsmen to learn anew the forgotten materials and methods largely unused for more than a century.
The legacy of the Uppark House restoration, finally re-opened to the public in 1995, continued to resonate throughout the UK. The lime plastering and modelling expertise acquired at Uppark found an all too early new project after the devastating 1991 fire at the 1742 Palladian mansion at Prior Park in Bath. Following extensive works, including restoration of the decorative plasterwork, the building was open once again in 1994.
The benefits of collaboration across the traditionally often separate scientific, archaeological and art historical fields has continued to advance and stimulate our study and understanding of many aspects of the historic built environment. This constantly leads to the uncovering of new discoveries and adds vastly to our overall understanding of the subject. In turn, this has led to an increased awareness of the value of a holistic approach and resulted in a more sympathetic and appropriate treatment across all aspects of the manner of conservation and restoration of historic plasterwork.
The modern scholar owes more than just a debt to Decorative Plasterwork; rather, it has laid the foundation for modern research of the subject. Whilst advances in knowledge relating to the material aspects of plaster have been made, at the core of the book lies the list of craftsmen which has provided the stimulus and inspiration for all that has followed.
Geoffrey never set out to produce a technical manual of the physical aspects of historic plasterwork and this introduction seeks to provide a basic understanding of the materials and methods used that has come to light in the intervening years of research and practical application. [cont].
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