An Up Close Look at Our 143 Year Old Mansion's Plaster Medallions
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- #historynerd #oldhouse #abandoned
Join Matt & Nicki as they flip the plaster medallions from the previously abandoned 143 year old historic St. Louis mansion, The Vahlkamp House, and take a deeper look at the intricate details, extraordinary craftsmanship, and scratch beneath the dust, plaster, and paint to uncover and appreciate a piece of both history and art.
Legends of Lemp: The Vahlkamp House, is a limited episode docuseries that follows Matt Mizell and his restoration team as they rebuild the 1879 mansion built for Henry Vahlkamp, former vice-president of the Lemp Brewery dynasty and a first-hand witness to the rise and fall of a family whose legacy and haunting history helped shape the beer industry and can still be felt today.
Subscribe and get notifications as we release new upcoming content exploring the history, legends, and legacy of Lemp.
Mansard Media's The Legends of Lemp collection aims to showcase and highlight the people, places, and history that has helped shape the unique and captivating Cherokee suburb of St. Louis, Missouri and explore it's beautiful and complex community and the haunting history of the Legendary Lemp family dynasty, whose legacy helped shape the neighborhood today.
Mansard Media is a multimedia and marketing production studio located in the Cherokee District of St. Louis, Missouri, focused on creating entertaining, educational, and engaging media content that uplifts small businesses, entrepreneurs, and communities looking for a platform to be seen.
It's always something special when one can get up close and personal with details of their home, or any building they own.
It's giving me a whole new perspective. Thanks Nay!
It’s beautiful.
What a beauty she is, that medallion. How I appreciate the craftsmanship of things made by hand. And to think this was 140 years old. I also appreciate how much time n care you took to save her. I sure hope doing this laser works so you may be able to make another. Looking forward to the conclusion of the medallion. ♥️😊👍🌟🎄
Amazing cleanup job! Looks great!
Great job, guys! It looks beautiful.
Ask at the local art museum if they could recommend anyone to give you some insight about taking it apart further in order to get the scans you need. I think the middle is 3 parts which should un-connect.
The rosette is certainly separate from the central disk. We'll definitely ask our local art museum.
It most likely went up in sections, make the handling easier. nice job 2x👍
Pretty sure you're right.
These medallions were done in component form. The center rossette is a seperate piece from the larger circular medallion below it. and the larger outer sections Scanning that center would be extremely difficult. What needs to happen is the center rossette need to be seperated from the larger.. Typically this would be done witha small dremel tool. Once the two are seperated they can be digitally scanned then 'cleaned up" in the scanning program to replace any missing pieces.. I would advise once they are separted get a plaster artisan to restore the missing pieces then I would pull silicone mold off of these pieces. Then cast them in a lightweight resin. or plaster (purists will want them in plaster) and I recomend you consider selling duplicates to offset your costs.
Awesome, this is what I was thinking needs to be done, but wasn't sure.
Would you mold it or would you try to scan it and also is there anyone you would recommend in our area?
Love this helpful feedback.
2 more things.
I think you said you used a foam adhesive to glue the round cutout board to the back for stability and put it back up? or am I mistaken on that.
This thing seems to be in such good shape that it feels like if we could stabilize it we could just put it back up and carry on.
I still want to scan it, but we could reuse it if we could stabilize it.
No pieces are missing, but one released and can easily be put back in if I could just secure it to a backer board.
Thank you and let us know if we could talk.
I appreciate all the knowledge shared here. I’m learning so much!
See the hole in the very top of the middle? That might have been something to hold it to the ceiling but when you shine a light down inside there what do you see? When they put these together the plaster held them so maybe that middle piece is molded on somehow. Can't take a time machine and go back and ask the makers how they did it can we? The Campbell house might know.
The center section is indeed glued in. It was molded in at least 7 pieces and then glued together with plaster.
I think the "gold paint" you are seeing is actually gold leaf. The "pink" you are seeing was once red in color known as "bole". This reddish clay is used under gold leaf to keep the leaf from looking green.
I'm thinking scanning is going to be a nightmare unless you take it apart entirely. Which ought to be a relatively simple process by carefully using a Dremel tool, scanning the pieces and then reassembling. I'm for keeping the original. (But you do you.)
If you do decide to use the original, are you going to paint it since you are going for a more modernist decor? Gold leafing would be stupendous, but it may end up looking a tad too glitzy (think Versailles) for your application.
If you want to see what a gold leafed ceiling rosette would look like restored I'd recommend watching videos from the UA-cam channel "Chateau de la Ferte". They are restoring an 18th century chateau in France. Currently they are working on the Grande Salon where Carole has painstakingly reconstructed all the plaster mouldings in the room, and then gold leafing them. It's stunning! But they are going for a more traditional French feeling. Here's a sample how to: ua-cam.com/video/mIQebMZ3Ibk/v-deo.html
I'd love to do some gold leaf. We watch that show too! We'll check it out.
The original bright gold color is spectacular! Hopefully you are able to scan it.
Might have been gold leaf. The scanning is looking daunting. We'll see.
@@MansardStudios you’ll figure something out. Thanks for the amazing tshirt! I’m getting into my Lemp: The Haunting History book, rewatching some videos and taking notes.
@@suzannepolder3929 We have part 3 of the Lemp / Vahlkamp story coming at you soon! So happy you enjoyed everything!
Your medallion might have been gold leafed. That would account for how shiny the paint was. It would also have reflected the light too.
Matt this makes me wonder during the whole process of turning it over and seeing how the medallion was made originally, the master plasterers that were at the top of their craft during the construction of your house. Most likely they had to be craftsmen from the old country, first generation immigrants. Your hands are the second pair to handle that since 1879, think about that. We are hard pressed to find traditional plaster craftsmen nowadays.. Cudos in your success flipping it over and cleaning it up to scan it, can't wait to see the reproduction!
Thank you. I agree on the master plaster workers. We had a huge number of master craftsmen in Stl from Bohemia and that region. They built some incredible churches too.
❤❤❤❤
Stunning medallion. Great team effort getting it turned over.
The way you cut out that wood circle, you'd think that you were building the Space Shuttle!
😂
The world's slowest circle cut, we sure milked that for all it was worth.
Lol!
Gold leaf or gold paint?
I vote gold leaf! Gold paint just doesn't have enough pigment to shine like that!
Gold leaf now that you mention it.