Good morrow, dear readers. I hope all is well with you!
I remember, in my pre-Amish days, watching period dramas and marvelling, not in a good way, about all the dark panelling throughout English country houses. Why would they do that? It would absorb all the light! Whereas such panelling is not as reflective as our modern painted surfaces, whilst living with the Amish, I learned that dark walls do indeed serve a very practical purpose.
The thing about candles, Argand and oil lamps, and fires – they all produce smoke, and not a little of it. As smoke is simply carbon particulates and water vapour caught in air currents, those tiny carbon molecules land on things, gradually creating charcoal build up everywhere, especially walls and ceilings. Our kerosene lamps – and many Regency candelabras – were mounted upon the walls with special reflective holders to disperse the light as widely as possible. And though we washed the lamp chimneys multiple times a week, scrubbing the walls became a regular chore – with the ceiling incorporated into spring/autumn cleaning. Thus, dark panelling would have been an easy maintenance choice for those with large country houses.
I am sure many of you have seen transom windows over doors in older homes or buildings; these were also common in Amish homes. In general, they had wide tiled sills used to place a candle or lamp over the door to disperse light into two areas at a time – parlour and kitchen, parlour or bedroom and hallway. I have seen pictures of the same design in English country homes, and again, those poor maids, climbing up to wash the window and ceiling.
I understand lighter coloured walls – via paints and various wallpapers – were in vogue during the Regency, at least in Town, and I feel for those poor maids. Our parlour had light grey walls, and keeping the smoke residue to manageable levels was a chore. I cannot imagine Regency paint was any more durable than our modern paints – [if this is incorrect, please tell me below!] – and I honestly have no clue how the Darcys, Elliots, Woodhouses, and Bennets would have worked around this. Mayhap a need to repaint and replace wallpapers accounts for the frequent changes in interior fashion?
I learned the practicality of another common feature of décor in the centuries prior to plentiful electric lighting not from the Amish, but from a field trip with my local JASNA chapter. In most JAFF stories, gilding equals ostentation and a lack of good taste; a viewpoint with which I would have agreed. (We joined the Amish for a reason, preferring quiet simplicity.) Our field trip was to the historic home of a woodworker who built his home to showcase his talents. The curators of the (now) museum had secured multiple of his former furniture pieces. As one of my JASNA mates commented upon the ‘garish gilding’ on the pieces in the parlour, our tour guide closed the curtains in the room and turned out the electric lights, asking us to imagine the room with but two kerosene lamps.
Suddenly, I saw it! The purpose behind what we find so outré today.
All the ornate mirrors and bits of gilt or mother of pearl inset into the setées, chairs, desks, cabinets, and even Mr Collins’ much lauded mantlepieces of the past reflected light, glowing warm in candle/fire-light. These glimmerings would have helped define the edges of the room, show the placement of the furnishings, and even illuminate the paintings upon the walls. (And gilding was even used on personal decorations as seen in the images below.)
I wish you all Godspeed, dear readers, and shall see you again in September!
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