Original Paintwork II

Original Paintwork II
Original Paintwork II
2012/13697

1950-2000 / Colour / John Wesley's House / Paper / Photograph
Photograph
c.1994

The photograph was taken in the second floor front room of John Wesley's House, during refurbishment works in the early 1990s.

It shows some of the original interior paintwork, after removal of wallpaper on top. The building plans of the house specified that the interior woodwork was to be painted three times in oil in a 'French grey', and a number of the principal rooms were to be ready for 'papering'.

French grey was commonly chosen to paint house interiors in the mid to late 1700s, as it was a cheap and serviceable colour. It was a somewhat indeterminable hue between grey and green and was often used on woodwork and plaster, as in this instance. In Georgian times, only rooms of high status and in better-off households were painted in colours such as yellow, light pink or blue.

See also image 2012/13651 showing the same colour in the hallway.