Section I—Introduction and Executive Summary
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INTERIOR CONDITION ASSESSMENT, FINISH COLOR INVESTIGATION and PROBE REPORT Tiffany Reading Room Irvington Town Hall Irvington, New York Prepared for: Stephen Tilly Architect 22 Elm Street Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 Prepared by: Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. 40 West 27th Street, Suite 1201 New York, NY 10001 November 6, 2006 Tiffany Reading Room, Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY Interior Condition Assessment Report TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page Executive Summary 1 Description 1 Methodology 2 Description of Materials and Probe Results 2 Wood 2 Plaster 3 Glass Mosaics 4 Condition Summary 5 Recommendations 6 Condition Drawings 8 Appendix A: Selective Interior Finish Color Investigation A-1 Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. November 6, 2006 Architectural Conservators A-i Tiffany Reading Room, Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY Interior Condition Assessment Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the request of Stephen Tilly Architect, Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. conducted a condition assessment of the interior of the Tiffany Reading Room, located in the Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY. This condition assessment report was prepared to identify, document and recommend required repairs to the interior of the room. This report also includes a finish color investigation, plaster and mosaic probe report, and the results of several exposure windows performed in the room. The Tiffany Reading Room was finished in 1902, and was located in the southwest corner of the Irvington Town Hall. The interior of the reading room was designed by Tiffany Studios, a company founded by glass artist and interior decorator Louis Comfort Tiffany. The funds for decorating the room were donated by Helen Gould, who lived in nearby Lyndhurst Mansion. The doorways leading to the reading room were surrounded by oversized, varnished wood frames into which literary quotes were carved. Six ceiling beams were also finished in a similar manner. Blue glass mosaics were laid into the walls on the south and west walls surrounding the windows, and on the north and east walls surrounding the doors. The walls were covered with pale yellow paint over which a decorative, textured glaze was applied. Water damage is prevalent on the plaster walls and woodwork in the reading room. The southwest corner and the wood wainscot below the windows are particularly deteriorated due to water infiltration. The ceiling beam at the southwest corner is displaced. This should be examined by a structural engineer to determine the structural integrity of the beam connection in the wall. Other than the water damage in the southwest corner and on the south wall above the windows, the plaster appears to be in good condition. There is some bulging of the plaster below the ceiling beams on the north and south walls, and minor cracking along the walls and ceiling. The mosaics are fragile works of art and fortunately only a few tesserae have been lost, primarily near the window sills. The wood door frames and doors are in excellent condition. DESCRIPTION The Tiffany Reading Room consists of four windows: two each on the south and west walls. The windows are wood varnished a rich brown color, which complements the varnished wood wainscoting. The windows are surrounded by glass mosaics that have curved window returns. A glass mosaic clock face is also located on the south wall between the windows. The hands have been removed, but the face remains intact. Most of the walls are currently covered with canvas, but they were originally decorated with a textured, glazed finish characteristic of Tiffany Studios. Doorways are found on the north and east walls, both of which are surrounded by glass mosaics. These mosaics are in turn framed by varnished wood door surrounds. The doorway on the north elevation has been permanently sealed to separate the reading room from the Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. November 6, 2006 Architectural Conservators 1 Tiffany Reading Room, Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY Interior Condition Assessment Report adjacent Department of Buildings. The ceiling is divided into five panels by wooden beams finished with a dark varnish. Both sides of the ceiling beams, and the top of the door frames, have been carved with literary quotes. These quotes are currently highlighted with gold paint, which was applied in 1981. METHODOLOGY Conservators Jennifer Cappeto and Jennifer Kearney from Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. surveyed the room, performed plaster and mosaic probes, and opened exposure windows of the walls and ceiling finishes between October 4 and 23, 2006. A baker’s scaffold was erected in the room and was used to examine conditions and to open the exposure windows. Assessment of the room included photodocumentation and illustrations to document as-found conditions. Sketches were made in the field to note observations, and photographs were taken to record conditions. These photographs along with illustrations noting the location of all conditions are included in the report. DESCRIPTION OF MATERIALS AND PROBE RESULTS Wood Wood used in the Tiffany Reading Room appears to be quarter-sawn oak. It is both varnished and painted, though most of the wood was finished using varnish. In addition to utilitarian items such as doors and windows, the wainscot, ceiling beams, and door frames were made with ornamental woodwork. The bookcase at the southeast corner of the room is also made of wood, but this is believed to have been a later addition to the room. Based on a microscopic analysis of finishes removed from the wooden elements in the room, we believe that the bookcase was probably installed within a decade or two after the room was decorated. The wainscot, windows, door surrounds and ceiling beams were finished with a dark varnish. Carved quotes on the door surrounds and ceiling beams are currently highlighted in gold paint. The bookcase is also finished with a dark varnish color that was applied to match the original finishes elsewhere in the room. In general, wood deterioration is primarily caused by moisture, but additional sources of deterioration include insects, impact or mechanical damage, and vandalism. Deterioration of wood in the Tiffany Reading Room appears as stained, warped and cracked wood, as well as loss of material. Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. November 6, 2006 Architectural Conservators 2 Tiffany Reading Room, Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY Interior Condition Assessment Report Plaster The plaster in the reading room consists of flat plaster on the walls and ceiling. At some point in the early twentieth century, both the ceiling and walls were covered with canvas. This was most likely done to cover cracks in the plaster. The canvas was applied and painted at least once before the bookcases were installed. A probe was made into the plaster at the southwest corner of the room to determine the condition of the plaster and wood lath. The plaster is a two-coat system consisting of a thick layer of browncoat on the wood lath, and a thin layer of white finish coat. The browncoat was made of sanded plaster and animal hair, and was 5/8- to ¾-inch thick. The finish coat consists of 1/16-inch of white, unsanded plaster to which the paint was applied. The probe showed that the browncoat has begun to disaggregate, and the plaster keys have broken from the body of the plaster. However, the lath is in excellent condition and can be reused when the wall is repaired. Common forms of deterioration in plaster include cracking, delamination, and separation of the plaster from the lath or other support. Deterioration from water infiltration, leaky pipes or leaders can manifest itself as visible water damage and disaggregation. This is the most prevalent form of plaster deterioration in the Tiffany Reading Room. Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. November 6, 2006 Architectural Conservators 3 Tiffany Reading Room, Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY Interior Condition Assessment Report Glass Mosaics The mosaic surrounding the doors and windows in the Tiffany Reading Room were created by Tiffany Studios. They are made of hand-rolled glass in shades of blue and green ranging from light blue-green to dark purplish blue. The mosaics form curves at the window and door returns, which was a common characteristic of mosaic installations by Tiffany Studios. There is also a glass mosaic clock face on the south wall of the room. The clock was designed with off-white, blue and green glass tiles. The glass tesserae were laid into a hard plaster setting bed, approximately one inch thick, which had a burlap backing. The burlap gave the plaster bed tensile strength so that the plaster did not crack during expansion and contraction. The wall behind the mosaic also consists of a browncoat and a finish coat. The burlap was sandwiched between the plaster setting bed for the mortar and the finish coat of the wall. It appears that both the finish coat and setting bed were wet when the burlap was installed. We have provided a diagram below to illustrate the mosaic installation. Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, Inc. November 6, 2006 Architectural Conservators 4 Tiffany Reading Room, Irvington Town Hall, Irvington, NY Interior Condition Assessment Report CONDITION SUMMARY Deterioration of the interior finishes of the Tiffany Reading Room range from severe to aesthetic. The heaviest deterioration is due to water infiltration, particularly on the south and west elevations. The plaster has become detached from the lath, is disaggregated, and is bulging in these locations. Slight bulges in the plaster may also be found on the north wall below the ceiling beams. The plaster is also cracked in several locations; we anticipate that extensive cracking will be visible once the canvas wall-covering is removed. Other deterioration includes wood damage from moisture infiltration, loss of glass mosaic tesserae, and blind detachment of the mosaic from its plaster substrate. The following is a summary of the conditions found in the reading room.