CCI has been analysing artists’ and architectural paints for more than 30 years. However, investigations of colour in the early years were limited to visual matching because colour measurement required the use of large flat samples and a bench-top spectrophotometer. This changed after 1988 when CCI obtained a series of portable devices for measuring colour (the Minolta Chroma Meter CR-200 and CM-2022 spectrophotometer) and gloss. These were initially used for documenting colour change during conservation treatments; monitoring colour change during the exhibition of textiles, paper, and paintings; and various research applications. But it soon became apparent that these robust, lightweight, and reliable devices were well suited to use outside the laboratory. Thus colour documentation was offered as an on-site scientific service. We now have a reference database of 2600 Munsell colours and 3000 commercial paint chip colours to allow accurate colour matching with commercially available paint and to provide visual reference samples.

Armed with this technology, we (Nancy Binnie and Alastair Fox) visited Fanshawe Pioneer Village in London, Ontario, in August 2004 to examine the architectural finishes of four buildings. Fanshawe Pioneer Village is one of the primary heritage educational venues and visitor attractions in the region. Operated by the London Middlesex Heritage Museum, it consists of 24 buildings in an agricultural setting. Some of the buildings require immediate repair and repainting; the older paint coatings have failed and exterior wood surfaces are unprotected. As part of a master development and business plan, a prioritized list of buildings that require historic paint and finish investigations has been created. The Benjamin Moore Community Restoration Program, administered under the Community Foundations of Canada, has provided a grant to help pay for repainting three of the buildings.

Nancy Binnie and Alastair Fox examine the morning glory border in the kitchen of the Jury Farmstead House. Photo: Shanna Dunlop.

Examination of paint cross sections under the microscope provides different, but complementary, information from that obtained through on-site examination. Photomicrograph showing paint layers: Nicolas Duxin.

The buildings we examined include the Lochaber Free Presbyterian Church, the Trinity Anglican Church, the Jury Farmstead House, and S.S. 19 Fanshawe Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse is constructed of cinder block, brick, and timber, while the three other buildings are wood. The paint is failing on the exteriors of the wood buildings, and two of them have the additional problem of high lead concentrations in the exterior paint. Information on the original appearance of the four buildings was provided by Shanna Dunlop (curator) and Jenna Whalen who provided access to archival photos, and by surviving members of the church congregations who gave oral history interviews.

Our on-site examinations (see Table 1 for some notable results) were directed first to exterior paint, but also included selected interiors where original surfaces are still present. The work included photographic documentation; sampling of paint layers to determine paint colour sequences; paint colour documentation using a Minolta CM-2022 portable spectrophotometer; matching of historic paint colours to Munsell reference colour chips and modern commercial paint chip colours; solubility tests for varnish layers (to determine varnish composition); sampling for later laboratory analysis of paint layers; and sampling of paint for quantitative testing of lead content by an independent laboratory.

Laboratory examination of samples at CCI was carried out by Nicolas Duxin. These analyses (e.g. sequence of layers, composition of paint and substrate) provided additional data where there was doubt that the on-site observations had captured information about all paint layers, or where information about the paint composition was needed.

The results of our work at Fanshawe Pioneer Village will help to ensure the accurate reinstatement of the original appearance of these buildings.

Table 1. Buildings examined at Fanshawe Pioneer Village and some notable results*

* The results listed in this table are only a small selection of the total results obtained from our examinations.