Panelling

Last updated
39 in (990 mm) wainscoting using 3 in (76 mm) tongue and groove pine boards Wainscotting.jpg
39 in (990 mm) wainscoting using 3 in (76 mm) tongue and groove pine boards

Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. [1] These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.

Contents

Panelling was developed in antiquity to make rooms in stone buildings more comfortable both by insulating the room from the stone, and reflecting radiant heat from wood fires, making heat more evenly distributed in the room. In more modern buildings, such panelling is often installed for decorative purposes. Panelling, such as wainscoting and boiserie in particular, may be extremely ornate and is particularly associated with 17th and 18th century interior design, Victorian architecture in Britain, and its international contemporaries.

Wainscot panelling

Simple moulded panelling on the walls of a staircase. RSC Staircase.jpg
Simple moulded panelling on the walls of a staircase.

The term wainscot ( UK: /ˈwnskət/ WAYN-skət or US: /ˈwnskɒt/ WAYN-skot) originally applied to high quality riven oak boards.

Wainscot oak came from large, slow-grown forest trees, and produced boards that were knot-free, low in tannin, light in weight, and easy to work with. It was preferred to home-grown oak, especially in the Netherlands and British Isles, because it was a far superior product and dimensionally stable.

The Oxford English Dictionary states that it derives from the Middle Low German wagenschot as well as wageschot or 'wall-board'. [2] Johnson's Dictionary defined it thus:

Wainscot [wageschot, Dutch], the inner wooden covering of a wall.
To wainscot [waegenschotten, Dutch], to line the walls with boards

A 'wainscot' was therefore a board of riven (and later quarter-sawn) oak, and wainscoting was the panelling made from it. During the 18th century, oak wainscot was almost entirely superseded for panelling in Europe by softwoods (mainly Scots pine and Norway spruce), but the name stuck:

The term wainscoting, as applied to the lining of walls, originated in a species of foreign oak of the same name, used for that purpose; and although that has long been superseded by the introduction of fir timber, the term has been continued notwithstanding the change of material. [3]

Peter Nicholson, An Architectural Dictionary (1819)

Today the term wainscot refers commonly to the different treatment of the lower part of the wall (roughly a meter, 3–4 feet); see also dado.

Boiserie

Elaborate boiseries in the guild hall of the Zunfthaus zu Kaufleuten, Kramgasse 29, Bern Zunfthaus - Gesellschaftssaal.jpg
Elaborate boiseries in the guild hall of the Zunfthaus zu Kaufleuten, Kramgasse 29, Bern

Boiserie (French pronunciation:  [bwazʁi] ; often used in the plural boiseries) is the French term used to define ornate and intricately carved wood panelling. [4] Boiseries became popular in the latter part of the 17th century in French interior design, becoming a de rigueur feature of fashionable French interiors throughout the 18th century. Such panels were most often painted in two shades of a chosen color or in contrasting colors, with gilding reserved for the main reception rooms. [5] The Palace of Versailles contains many fine examples of white painted boiseries with gilded mouldings installed in the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. [6] The panels were not confined to just the walls of a room but were used to decorate doors, frames, cupboards, and shelves also. It was standard for mirrors to be installed and framed by the carved boiseries, especially above the mantelpiece of a fireplace. Paintings were also installed within boiseries, above doorways or set into central panels. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spandrel</span> Space between a curved figure and a rectangular boundary

A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently filled with decorative elements.

Panel may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseboard</span> Wooden or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall where it meets the floor

In architecture, a baseboard is usually wooden or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the joint between the wall surface and the floor. It covers the uneven edge of flooring next to the wall; protects the wall from kicks, abrasion, and furniture; and can serve as a decorative molding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dado rail</span> Horizontal rail at the top of dado paneling

A dado rail, also known as a chair rail or surbase, is a type of moulding fixed horizontally to the wall around the perimeter of a room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dado (architecture)</span> Architectural element

In architecture, the dado is the lower part of a wall, below the dado rail and above the skirting board. The word is borrowed from Italian meaning "dice" or "cube", and refers to "die", an architectural term for the middle section of a pedestal or plinth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molding (decorative)</span> Class of decorative elements in the ornamentation

Moulding, or molding, also coving, is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster, but may be of plastic or reformed wood. In classical architecture and sculpture, the moulding is often carved in marble or other stones. In historic architecture, and some expensive modern buildings, it may be formed in place with plaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of Romania, Washington, D.C.</span>

The Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. is the main diplomatic mission of Romania to the United States of America. It is located at 1607 23rd Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20008.

This page is a glossary of architecture.

Gilling Castle is a Grade I listed country house near Gilling East, North Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermeil Room</span>

The Vermeil Room is located on the ground floor of the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room houses a collection of silver-gilt or vermeil tableware, a 1956 bequest to the White House by Margaret Thompson Biddle. Portraits of American First Ladies hang in the room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muntin</span> Strip of wood or metal that separates and holds glass panes in a window

A muntin (US), muntin bar, glazing bar (UK), or sash bar is a strip of wood or metal separating and holding panes of glass in a window. Muntins can be found in doors, windows, and furniture, typically in Western styles of architecture. Muntins divide a single window sash or casement into a grid system of small panes of glass, called "lights" or "lites".

Nicolas Pineau (1684–1754) was a French carver and ornamental designer, one of the leaders who initiated the exuberant style of the French rocaille or Rococo. He worked in St. Petersburg and Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ephraim Hawley House</span> Building in Connecticut, United States

The Ephraim Hawley House is a privately owned Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber-frame saltbox house situated on the Farm Highway, Route 108, on the south side of Mischa Hill, in Nichols, a village located within Trumbull, Connecticut, in the New England region of the U.S. It was expanded to its present shape by three additions. The house has been located in four different named townships, but has never been moved; Stratford (1670–1725), Unity (1725–1744), North Stratford (1744–1797) and Trumbull (1797–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linenfold</span>

Linenfold is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became widespread across Northern Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries. The name was applied to the decorative style by antiquarian connoisseurs in the early 19th century; the contemporary name was apparently lignum undulatum, Nathaniel Lloyd pointed out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burbank–Livingston–Griggs House</span> Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Burbank–Livingston–Griggs House is the second-oldest house on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was designed in Italianate style by architect Otis L. Wheelock of Chicago and built from 1862 to 1863. The work was commissioned by James C. Burbank, a wealthy owner of the Minnesota Stage Company. Later, four significant local architects left their mark on the landmark structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas T. Gaff House</span> United States historic place

The Thomas T. Gaff House is the diplomatic residence of the Colombian ambassador to the United States, a post currently held by Juan Carlos Pinzon. The house, a contributing property to the Dupont Circle Historic District, is located at 1520 20th Street NW, Washington, D.C., across from the north entrance to the metro station in Dupont Circle and one block from Massachusetts Avenue's Embassy Row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William K. Vanderbilt House</span> Demolished mansion in Manhattan, New York

The William K. Vanderbilt House, also known as the Petit Chateau, was a Châteauesque mansion at 660 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street. It was across the street from the Triple Palace of William Henry Vanderbilt, which occupied the entire block between 51st and 52nd Streets on the west side of Fifth Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wainscot chair</span> Type of wooden panel-backed chair

A wainscot chair is a type of chair which was common in early 17th-century England and colonial America. Usually made of oak, the term can be used in a general way for a simple heavy chair, or more specifically for a particular style of heavy panel-backed chair as detailed later. The name derives from the fine grade of oak which was used at the time for wainscot panelling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millwork</span> Decorative woodmill-produced products for building construction

Millwork is historically any wood mill produced decorative materials used in building construction. Stock profiled and patterned millwork building components fabricated by milling at a planing mill can usually be installed with minimal alteration. Today, millwork may encompass items that are made using alternatives to wood, including synthetics, plastics, and wood-adhesive composites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perpendicular Gothic</span> Third historical division of English Gothic architecture

Perpendicular Gothic architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-centred arches, straight vertical and horizontal lines in the tracery, and regular arch-topped rectangular panelling. Perpendicular was the prevailing style of Late Gothic architecture in England from the 14th century to the 17th century. Perpendicular was unique to the country: no equivalent arose in Continental Europe or elsewhere in the British Isles. Of all the Gothic architectural styles, Perpendicular was the first to experience a second wave of popularity from the 18th century on in Gothic Revival architecture.

References

  1. "Paneling". Encyclopædia Britannica . britannica.com. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  2. "wainscot". Oxford Dictionaries. 9 September 2017. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017.
  3. Peter Nicholson, An Architectural Dictionary, 2 Vols., London (1819).
  4. Garay, Regina (June 23, 2014). "The Beauty of Boiserie". paintandpattern.com. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  5. Whitehead, John (1992). The French Interior in the 18th Century. Dutton Studio Books. pp. 95–7.
  6. Verlet, Pierre (1985). Le château de Versailles. Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard
  7. Whitehead, John (1992). The French Interior in the 18th Century. Dutton Studio Books. pp. 95–7.