Thursday, January 17, 2013

Matching Historic Stencils to Period Pictures

Now that I've found so many old stencil catalogs, I noticed I am in a position to hook up some of the period drawings with the actual stencil designs. I thought this would be helpful for those of you still considering stenciling options.

The following room pictures appeared in the 1912 "Home Building and Decoration" by Henry Collins Brown.
Specifications for above picture: Ceiling and Drop - S-W Flat-tone Cream. Wall - S-W Flat-tone Bright Sage. Stencil No. 113.
Frieze Stencil No. 113
This stencil—or one very close to it—is currently available from "The Stencil Library" UK website. It is stencil Border No. 8.

Specifications for above picture: Ceiling and Cove - S-W Flat-tone Cream. Wall - S-W flat-tone System Effect No. 14. Stencil No. 205y.
Frieze Stencil No. 205
A Mission Bedroom
Specifications for above picture: Ceiling - S-W Flat-tone Ivory. Wall - S-W flat-tone Pale Olive. Stencil No. 19.
Wall Stencil No. 19

The following room pictures appeared in the 1910 Sherwin Williams' "Your Home and Its Decoration."
Specifications for above picture: Ceiling - S-W Flat-tone Ivory 833. Wall - S-W Flat-tone Old Gold 840. Stencil No. 46. Leaves, Flat-tone Glaze Colors. (Olive Lake,............ 1 part; Raw Sienna,............ 1/6 part; Stencil White,........... 1/2 part.) Curtains, Bed Covering - White Muslin with Stencil Border. No. 34, using wall stencil colors. Dresser and Table Scarf - White Linen with Stencil No. 73 in same wall stencil colors.
Frieze Stencil No. 46
Curtains, Bed Covering Border Stencil No. 34
Dresser and Table Scarf Stencil No. 73
Specifications for above picture: Ceiling - S-W Flat-tone Ivory 833. Stencil No. 44, Size 9 x 36. Frieze - Background S-W Flat-tone Ivory 833, slightly tinted with Bright Sage. Leaves, S-W Flat-tone Glaze Colors. (Olive Lake,............1 part; Raw Sienna,............1/2 part; and Stencil White,...........1/2 part.) Flowers. (Permanent Crimson Lake, .....1/5 part; Cobalt,..............1/10 part; Raw Sienna,............1/8 part.) Wall - S-W Flat-tone Bright Sage 847.  
Frieze Stencil No. 44
It looks like this stencil is still available from Michael Fitzsimmons Decorative Arts, Craftsman Stencil Collection. It is called the Clematis stencil.

Specifications for above picture: Ceiling - S-W Flat-tone Cream 832. Wall - S-W Flat-tone Shell Pink 829. Stencil No. 21, Size 15 x 30. (Leaves: S-W Flat-tone Glaze Colors. Olive Lake,............ 1/2 part; Permanent Crimson Lake, ..... 1/5 part; Stencil White,........... 1 part. Flowers: Cobalt,..............1 part; Permanent Crimson Lake, .....1/3 part; Stencil White,...........1 part.) Curtains - White Muslin. (Borders) Stencil No. 83, size, six inches high. Leaves produced with S-W Flat-tone Glaze Colors. (Olive Lake,............ 1/2 part; Raw Sienna,............ 1/4 part and Stencil White,........... 1 part.) Flowers - Same Glaze Colors as specified for Wall Stencil. Bed and Chair Covers - Cretonne to match Wall Stencil Colors. Rug - Wilton Carpet with Special Border in Green and Pink.
Frieze Stencil No. 21
Curtain Stencil No. 83
I cannot find this exact wisteria stencil, but there are a number of similar options available from a variety of online businesses. I include the best one below.

If you omitted the solid black linesthe support frameit would be pretty close.

These rooms appeared in the Style Portfolio of Home Decoration from Sherwin Williams Co. (1910). 

Specification—Ceiling, S-W Flat-tone Cream. Wall, S-W Fiat-tone, Old Gold. Stencil, No 10. Woodwork, Natural Pine; finished with S-W Excello Varnish. Floor, Natural finished with three coats S-W Mar-not Varnish.
Specification—Ceiling, S-W Flat-tone Cream. Wall, S-W Fiat-tone, Terra Cotta. Stencil, No 97. Woodwork, Varnish Stain, Dark Oak. Floor, S-W Floorlac, Light Oak.

This stencil is easy to find; I even own one. You can buy one very like it here at American Home Stencils.

This bedroom first appeared in Ladies Home Journal in May 1911, but a very similar design was followed up in the Craftsman Magazine in Dec 1913.



These interior pictures showed up in two different Alabastine paint idea catalogs from 1906 and 1910. I jumped around their different catalogs enough times, I sort of lost track of what catalog each stencil image was from. Unfortunately, Alabastine was known to re-number their stencils, and they never included more than a large sample of all their stencils in a single catalog. It was a little frustrating matching these up. I don't include the specifications, because they don't make any sense without the paint chart and the stencil numbers usually don't match anyway. 
Bedroom - Alabastine 1910 paint idea booklet
Living Room - Alabastine 1906 paint idea booklet 
Library - Alabastine 1910 paint idea booklet
Bedroom - Alabastine 1910 paint idea booklet
Living Room - Alabastine 1910 paint idea booklet
Living Room - Alabastine 1906 paint idea booklet 
Parlor - Alabastine 1906 paint idea booklet
Bedroom - Alabastine 1906 paint idea booklet 
Bedroom - Alabastine 1906 paint idea booklet
Alabastine obviously liked pastel colors as interior colors—they're definitely not to my taste. =)

Though most of these stencils aren't available anymore, stencils are fairly easy, though tedious, to cut yourself. Or, there are lots of period-style stencils available from modern suppliers. I bookmark quite a few of them in my shopping resources page. Or, I've pinned quite a few on my Craftsman Stencils, Wallpaper and Paint Colors board on pinterest.

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