Medallion Restoration

The medallion on the ceiling in the upstairs hallway was one project I looked forward to with a lot of anticipation. Because of the intricacy & age of the piece (we believe it to be original to the house circa 1800’s) I felt it a privilege to be able to work on it.

During the time period when it was created,  plaster medallions were of high popularity & served as a symbol of wealth for the middle & upper class society. It also illustrated the homeowner’s personal style, aesthetics & architecture of the house itself. Medallions would be placed on the ceiling where guests would be most apt to see them such as in the entryway or parlor. This makes sense for the placement of the one we have because it’s located on the ceiling where the original foyer was in the home.

While most medallions of the 1800’s represented European or Greek styles, ours doesn’t depict the traditional rosettes & leaves for example. Instead, there are what appears to be four owls as the main ornamentation in the center. We’ve wondered if it was a family crest for the original homeowners or a type of symbolism for others to be made known about its involvement with the underground railroad. If neither were the case, owls served as a representation of what they do even today: wisdom, protection & diligence.

Due to the heaviness of plaster itself, vintage medallions (many weighing up to 40 pounds depending on size) can cause the keys of plaster to break away from the wooden lath which results in pieces falling off or in severe cases, the entire medallion can unfasten from the ceiling completely. Pictured here is Gavin checking the structural integrity of the medallion to make sure it’s secure. Thankfully, it was in good condition, however the plaster surrounding the medallion showed signs of cracking. We re-secured the ceiling using plaster washers (more on that in another post).

STEPS TO RESTORE THE MEDALLION:

1. Over 200 years of dust & grime had to first be vacuumed up & each individual crevice leaned out with a small brush tool.
2. Once it was clean, I hand sanded each piece of the medallion to smooth the surface &  slough off any original paint that remained (unlike paint today that chips off, this was chalky & rubbed off when you touched it).
3. There were a couple places around the curved edges that had chipped off so I used a  spackling compound to fill & remold it, waited until it dried, then sanded those places so they would look congruent with the original design.
4. Two coats of white primer was painted over the medallion to create a blank canvas to work from.
5. Next was my favorite part that I’d been looking forward to: repainting the medallion. I wanted it to harmonize with each room on this floor & tie them together so I used wall colors from the bedroom, hallway & living room to incorporate into the piece. I also took a small chip of plaster  into Home Depot to have the original green ceiling paint from 1808 matched & recreated so that it could be used on the medallion as well (seen on the outside rings in the final photo).
6. To add a bit of regal ambiance, I also integrated five different colors of metallic paint to detail & add depth to the intricacy of the plaster design. 

The total time that it took for me to paint the medallion was around 16 hours which involved mixing colors, using a fine paint brush & my neck tilted upwards while standing on the scaffolding. Now complete, I believe it was well worth all of the neck cramps I received in the process. I feel blessed to have worked on this project, knowing that I was one of very few throughout the history of the home that have ever touched this piece with their own hands since it was created. My hope is that the beauty of this medallion will live on another 200 years. It was finished in April of 2018.