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Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page i Architectural Tiles: Conservation and Restoration Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page ii Butterworth-Heinemann Series in Conservation and Museology Series Editors: Arts and Archaeology Andrew Oddy British Museum, London Architecture Derek Linstrum Formerly Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York US Executive Editor: Norbert S. Baer New York University, Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts Consultants: Sir Bernard Feilden Page Ayres Cowley, Conservation Architect, New York David Bomford National Gallery, London John Fidler English Heritage, London C.V. Horie Manchester Museum, University of Manchester Sarah Staniforth National Trust, London Jeanne Marie Teutonico The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles Published titles: Care and Conservation of Geological Material (Howie) Chemical Principles of Textile Conservation (Timár-Balázsy, Eastop) Conservation and Restoration of Ceramics (Buys, Oakley) Conservation and Restoration of Glass (Davison) Conservation of Building and Decorative Stone (Ashurst, Dimes) Conservation of Earth Structures (Warren) Conservation of Furniture (Rivers, Umney) Conservation of Historic Buildings (Feilden) Conservation of Historic Timber Structures (Larsen, Marstein) Historic Floors: Their History and Conservation (Fawcett) A History of Architectural Conservation ( Jokilehto) Lacquer: Technology and Conservation (Webb) The Museum Environment, 2nd Edition (Thomson) The Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects, 2nd Edition (Mills, White) The Textile Conservator’s Manual, 2nd Edition (Landi) Upholstery Conservation: Principles and Practice (Gill, Eastop) Related titles: Concerning Buildings (Marks) Dictionary of Historical Pigments (Eastaugh, Walsh, Siddall, Chaplin) Digital Collections (Keene) Historic Floors (Fawcett) Managing Conservation in Museums (Keene) Materials for Conservation (Horie) Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects (Mills, White) Remedial Treatment of Buildings (Richardson) Restoration of Motion Picture Film (Read, Meyer) Risk Assessment for Object Conservation (Ashley-Smith) Structural Aspects of Building Conservation (Beckman, Bowles) Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page iii Architectural Tiles: Conservation and Restoration From the Medieval Period to the Twentieth Century Lesley Durbin BA(Hons) Dip Eur Hum. PACR AMSTERDAM ● BOSTON ● HEIDELBERG ● LONDON ● NEW YORK ● OXFORD PARIS ● SAN DIEGO ● SAN FRANCISCO ● SINGAPORE ● SYDNEY ● TOKYO Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 7:02 PM Page iv Butterworth-Heinemann An imprint of Elsevier Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 30 Corporate Drive, Burlington, MA 01803 First published 2005 Copyright © 2005 Lesley Durbin. All rights reserved The right of Lesley Durbin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science and Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: Phone: (ϩ44) (0) 1865 843830; fax: (ϩ44) (0) 1865 853333; e-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (www.elsevier.com), by selecting ‘Customer Support’ and then ‘Obtaining Permissions’. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7506 58320 For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications visit our website at: www.bh.com Composition by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, Chennai, India. Working together to grow libraries in developing countries www.elsevier.com | www.bookaid.org | www.sabre.org Front cover (clockwise from top left): Detail from the ‘Maypole’ pancel, 1930s tiles made by Carter’s of Poole, Middlesex Children’s hospital; 13th century tiles, Guy’s Tower, Warwick Castle; Interior of the Pearl Assurance Building designed by Alfred Waterhouse, Liverpool; Geometric tile floor, The Atrium, Osgoode Hall, Toronto Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page v Contents Acknowledgements and thanks ix Acknowledgements for photographs xi List of illustrations xii List of colour plates xviii Introduction xix 1 Looking at tile schemes 1 Introduction 1 Medieval pavements 2 Delftware interiors 4 Nineteenth and early twentieth century interior schemes 7 2 Tile making – past and present 16 Introduction 16 Medieval tiles 17 Early tile making 17 Degradation associated with manufacturing techniques 22 Contemporary tile making techniques in the medieval style 24 Delftware tiles 27 Early tile making in the Netherlands 27 Degradation associated with manufacturing techniques 32 Current tile making techniques 33 Factory restoration techniques 36 Nineteenth century tiles 37 Industrial mass production of nineteenth century floor tiles 37 Degradation of floor tiles associated with production techniques 41 Industrial mass production of nineteenth century glazed wall tiles 43 Degradation of glazed wall tiles associated with production techniques 45 Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page vi vi Contents Current tile manufacturing techniques for restoration projects 47 Conclusion 53 3 Mortar and construction methods used in historic tile schemes 55 Introduction 55 Construction methods in the medieval period 56 Early lime mortar 58 Mortar mixes for resetting 61 Construction methods in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 62 Fixing methods and materials in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 64 Mortar and resetting for seventeenth and eighteenth century tiles 66 Short case study 67 Construction methods in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries 68 Problems connected with the early use of Portland cement 74 Mortars and adhesives for resetting nineteenth and early twentieth century tiles 77 Conclusion 81 4 Principals of conservation for architectural tile schemes 83 Introduction 83 Pre-industrial age 85 Post-industrial age 86 Conservation in the USA 91 5 Methods of conservation 95 Introduction 95 Surveys 96 Historical context 96 Description 97 Identifying deterioration 97 Identifying wear and tear due to natural aging 99 Treatment recommendations within a survey 100 Role of the conservator as consultant 102 Cleaning 103 Hard and soft bodies 103 Medieval tile pavements 104 Seventeenth and eighteenth century glazed wall tiles 107 Nineteenth and twentieth century tiles 109 Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page vii Contents vii Paint removal from glazed tiles 113 Salts 114 Continuing care of historic and restored glazed tile schemes 116 Advice to others 116 Consolidation of mortar 118 Degradation and consolidation of medieval mortar 118 Causes of degradation in seventeenth and eighteenth century mortars 119 Consolidating seventeenth and eighteenth century mortars 121 Causes of degradation in nineteenth and twentieth century mortars 122 Consolidation of nineteenth and twentieth century mortars 124 The importance of grout 125 Consolidation of ceramic tiles in-situ 127 Causes of damage to in-situ tiles 127 Consolidating medieval tiles 129 Consolidating seventeenth and eighteenth century tiles 130 Consolidating nineteenth and twentieth century tiles 131 Painting or retouching 132 Safe removal of damaged historic tiles 134 Medieval tiles 134 Eighteenth century and later tiles 134 Removal of steel pins 137 Relocation of eighteenth century decorative tile panels and schemes 138 Relocation of nineteenth and twentieth century decorative tile panels and schemes 138 Ethical considerations 138 Practice of relocation 140 Preparing for reuse or display 145 Displaying tile panels 147 Conservation treatment reports 149 6 Tools, products, and health and safety 151 Introduction 151 On-site work 151 On-site tools and materials checklist 153 Studio equipment 154 7 Case studies 156 The conservation of the historic tile floors at Ontario State Courthouse, Osgoode Hall, Toronto 156 Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page viii viii Contents Historic context 156 Condion survey, September 1999 158 Repairs to the hallway floor (Room 242), August 2000 159 The atrium floor 165 The conservation and restoration of Pugin tiles at the House of Commons, London 170 Manufacture 171 On-site conservation 173 Appendix 174 Conservation of medieval tile pavements in an outdoor environment (1998–2001) 174 Introduction 174 Background to the project 175 The natural environment 175 Treatment methods 177 The weather 179 Visitors 181 Vandalism 181 Conclusion 181 Appendix 182 Persian Water Rug fountain, San Diego, California, USA 185 Sidewalk tiles, Joliet, Illinois 186 Update 189 Conservation treatment report on three early 1960s tile panels from Sunderland Art Gallery for Tyne and Wear Museums 190 Introduction 190 Conservation treatment 191 Condition 192 Treatment 192 Additional treatment 195 Reversing technique 196 Bibliography and references 197 Appendix 200 Index 201 Lesl-Fm.qxd 11/10/04 10:16 AM Page ix Acknowledgments and thanks I wish to express my most grateful thanks to all those who have helped me in