Historic paint analysis, or architectural paint research, is the scientific analysis of a broad range of architectural finishes, and is primarily used to determine the color and behavior of surface finishes at any given point in time. This helps us to understand the building's structural history and how its appearance has changed over time. Researchers may gather data for the history of the interior decoration of a building or room. Historic paint analysis shares a common methodology with the conservation and restoration of paintings used to conserve and restore two- and three dimensional works of art. This involves the identification of components such as organic or inorganic pigments and dyes contained in the pigments. Historic paint analysis also identifies the pigments' media of suspension such as (water, oil, or latex and the paints' associated substrate. A variety of techniques are used to identify and analyze the pigment layers and finish exposure, including Finish Exposure, optical microscopy, fluorescent light microscopy, polarized light microscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. These methods are useful for dating purposes as well. Likewise, analyses are used to evaluate levels of risk arising from agents of deterioration that can affect paint loss, surface deterioration, interaction with newer materials, substrates, de-lamination, media and pigment deterioration, and alligatoring. With this information the conservation scientist or researcher of historic interiors can develop a better understanding of the chronology of the painted surface and make recommendations useful in restoring its appearance to a previous state while ensuring its longevity.
History Historic architectural paint analysis finds its roots in the early twentieth century in the United States. The historic preservation movement began in 1849 with the preservation of Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. Early preservationists became interested in authenticity. They began to realize that paints and finishes which had survived were very important but may not have been the original, or most significant, finishes. In the 1950s and 1960s, paint colours were investigated at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia by the architect Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler. Her pioneering efforts introduced the use of a stereo microscope to examine the 18th century paints used at Independence Hall. Batcheler also introduced the use of the Munsell color system for matching and referencing colours. Her landmark publication, Paint Color Research and Restoration, was the first publication concerning the analysis of historic architectural paints for determination of original colour. At the same time, in the United Kingdom, microscopy of paint samples was developed by Joyce Plesters of the National Gallery, London who worked mainly with easel paintings but also with samples from wall-paintings. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Morgan W. Phillips at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) became involved with historic paint and color analysis, at the Harrison Gray Otis House in Boston. At the same time, E. Blaine Cliver, historical architect, who had worked with Batcheler at the National Park Service in Philadelphia, with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, DC, and later at the Northeast Regional Office of the Park Service, became involved with historic paint analysis. He set up a laboratory in Building 28 of the former Boston Navy Yard. In the early 1970s, Frank S. Welsh joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Philadelphia and began to study historic paints with Batcheler. Welsh introduced the use of the National Bureau of Standards Color Name Charts, (National Institute of Standards and Technology) for naming colours matched to the Munsell color system. Welsh introduced the term "paint analysis" into the lexicon of historic preservation.
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