Conserving the Carolina Room

On view in the Rex and Pat Lucke Gallery

The conservation of the Carolina Room was made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Rex A. Lucke of Elkhorn, Nebraska, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional conservation support is provided by the Mildred and J.B. Hickman Conservation Endowment and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowed Conservation Fund.

The Rex and Pat Lucke Gallery is home to a remarkable room from the Alexander Shaw House. A modest Scotland County, North Carolina, dwelling, its rooms were painted to simulate costly building materials such as cabinet-grade wood and polished stone. The pine doors and wainscoting were grained to look like bird’s eye maple and rosewood, while the baseboards and mantel were painted in imitation of colorful marble. Paint decoration at the top of the walls resembled the exuberant wallpaper borders of that day. Most unusual is the “Vue of New-York” above the mantel. It shows the city’s dockside in flames and was inspired by the fire that destroyed New York’s waterfront in 1835. The decoration was the work of I. M. Scott, who signed and dated the room August 17, 1836.

The woodwork underwent complex conservation to preserve, clean, and reveal its original decoration. The work took seven years and was carried out in the Colonial Williamsburg conservation labs. Come and inspect the room and the conservation for yourself and see the 180-year-old decoration looking much as painter Scott intended.