Discoveries in Painted Plaster 

We are constantly being made aware of new discoveries of undocumented painted plaster. Most recently, we were alerted to a Moses Eaton stenciled bedchamber in Temple, NH that had never been researched or photographed. Dispatching our team to document and archive these folk art treasures ensures that they will be recorded for future historians and posterity, no matter who owns the painted wall decoration or what happens to it.  Please contact us if you have found early American paint- decorated walls, and feel free to peruse our website for important information regarding these historic treasures.  We can assist you with the documentation, registration, and attribution of paint-decorated walls, as well provide guidance for their preservation and conservation. 

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Because so many of these painted walls have already been lost, and many more are at risk today, the Center for Painted Wall Preservation is focusing on the development of a publicly accessible digital archive of over 500 early American paint-decorated walls.  Scenic folk art landscape murals by Rufus Porter, his nephew Jonathan D. Poor, Orison Woods, and John Avery and stenciled walls by Moses Eaton, and the “Borderman”, are but a few of the 19th century folk art walls that will be documented in this archive.  This online digital archive will serve as a central repository for over 150 years of combined research by dedicated historians in the area of early American paint-decorated walls.  This online digital archive will be made available to the public, historians, and researchers, and will ensure permanent record of these historic painted walls…the crown jewels of American folk art! 

 

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