“They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is how the saying goes. In the case of some 19th-century German-made toys, that might be a good thing.
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Beneath the Surface: Tar Paint-Preserving Williamsburg for Centuries
What’s that smell? If you’ve visited the newly erected Market House or Anderson’s Blacksmith Shop and Public Armoury, you may have noticed something in the air after the buildings were painted. The odor of chicory? A nearby BBQ? Believe it or not, it’s paint! Tar paint, to be exact. …
Beneath the Surface: Painting a Complete Picture of Our Historic Buildings
When a house in Colonial Williamsburg is repainted, who picks the hues? It may come as a surprise but the house itself does! If it is an original building with original painted material, then the historic evidence should be there. It is my job to find those nooks and crannies that contain early paints, and analyze that evidence in the Materials Analysis Laboratory.
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Beneath the Surface: How Colonial Williamsburg is Using Infrared Technology to Analyze History!
When I give tours of my analytical lab to our guests, everyone’s eyes seem to widen as I introduce them to the Fourier-Transform Infrared Microspectrometer (FTIR for short). It’s definitely a mouthful but it’s also a great friend to us materials analysts!
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Beneath the Surface: The Clues in a Paint Sample
Most of us would look at a tiny paint flake as nothing more than a speck that should be swept into the garbage. But in the Materials Analysis Lab, that tiny paint flake contains a wealth of information to help us understand the history of an object….
Beneath the Surface: The Return of the Green Lantern
Lanterns from the CWF collection awaiting analysis
Hello and welcome to the first post of “Beneath the Surface”, the blog that keeps you up to date on the latest activities at Colonial Williamsburg’s Materials Analysis Laboratory, where the 18th century meets modern-day science. Here, we use sophisticated analytical instruments to better understand the art and artifacts that make up our varied collection….