Pargeting, stucco & scagliola

Pargeting is believed to have been introduced to England in the sixteenth century by Henry VIII who imported Italian plasterers to decorate Nonsuch Palace. The craft was referred to as ‘stucco’ in Italy, but became known as ‘pargeting’ in England. Either patterns were stamped or scratched into the surface of wet plaster, and  the most skilled pargeters created their own designs which they then modelled directly onto the wall using their fingers and a spatula to create designs in high or low relief.

Pargeting   was highly fashionable from the Restoration until it dropped out of favour during the Industrial Revolution. If became fashionable again during  the Arts and Crafts period, and popular again in the last 20-30 years with several people taking an interest in the trade (although some are plaster sculptors doing small panels which aren’t integral to a building, rather than entire elevations).

While the craft is mainly associated with East Anglia and particularly Suffolk and Essex, historically it was much more widely employed and examples can be found in the West Country, Kent (Maidstone), Cheshire (Chester), Wirral peninsular (Port Sunlight) and Staffordshire (Stoke on Trent). Examples of early pargetting also exist in Wales, Scotland, Yorkshire, although in these areas it is much more common to find internal work.

Pargeting is most frequently seen on the outside of houses, particularly in areas where there is no good building stone. However, pargetting can be found in areas where good building stone is present. It is most commonly found on timber framed properties (more prone to fire damage than brick or stone built) but it was not necessarily a substitute. It can also be found indoors on overmantels and ceilings.

Stucco

The term ‘stucco’ or ‘hand modelled plaster’ is commonly used to refer to indoor decorative lime plasterwork. As with pargeting it was brought to the UK by Italian craftspeople and it has remained a much more common skill in Italy.

Stucco was a lost craft in the UK until it was researched by Geoffrey Preston in order to restore the fire damaged historic buildings of Uppark and Windsor Castle. Some conservators will also have knowledge of the craft.

It is usually found indoors on overmantels and ceilings.

Freehand modelling of plaster, either in high or low relief. Pargeting can be found in a number of finishes and is not restricted to lime plaster, although this is the most common. Simple repeating panels can be combed or stamped.

Lime plaster applied and modelled by hand using plastering tools and a variety of home made implements and tools. Specific pargeting tools are not available so home-made versions are the order of the day. Repeat decorative patterns may be made with wooden stamps or by scratching or impressing the wet plaster. The finest pargeting is hand-modelled bas-relief motifs like coats of arms, fruits, animals, green men etc.

Stucco

The techniques are very similar to pargeting although the ingredients in the plaster (lime based putty, aggregate, animal glue and a small amount of gypsum plaster) are slightly different.

Different plasters are used in different areas e.g. sand and lime, chalk and lime. Also patterns tended to be grouped in certain areas, although maybe the local pargeter/plasterer had a particular stamp he was fond of. There seems to be no such demarcation today.

Allied crafts:

• 3-dimensional sculpting
• Rendering/plastering
• Scagliola

Pargeting

• Market issues: Strongly connected to changing tastes in housing design/architectural style, so not always desirable. There is a growing interest in pargeting for interiors in large houses for games rooms, home cinemas etc.
• Loss of skills: Most skills are held by conservators and there is only a very small demand for new stucco

• National Heritage Training Group
• The Prince’s Trust

There is no guild of pargeters.

n/a

• Anna Kettle, Anna Kettle Pargeting
• Johanna Welsh, Traditional Pargetting, Suffolk
• Bill Sargent, The Pargetting Company, East of England
• Ian Warren, Pargeting by Ian Warren, Essex
• Lee Patterson, Suffolk
• Geoffrey Preston, Exeter
• David Casey, Suffolk
• James Collier, Norfolk
• Ian Warren Pargeting
• Rebecca Gilling 
• Hugh Beattie (part time)

As of 2018, Joe Pattison has retired from pargeting and is now concentrating on sculpture.

Stucco

• Geoffrey Preston, Exeter
• Phillip Gaches, Peterborough

While the minimum number of craftspeople required for pargeting to be sustainable is believed to be 5-6, this is believed to be about the maximum number the craft can support.

There are about 6 highly-skilled professional pargeters. However, within East Anglia it is believed that there are probably about 100 plasterers who do simple pargeting with stamps and combs. Bill Sargent has trained 26 plasterers over 45 years, 9 of whom have done a full apprenticeship and the others who have trained for between six months and several years, all of whom have been trained to some extent in pargeting.

• Buxbaum, Tim. Pargeting.
• Penoyre, John and Jane, Decorative Plasterwork in the Houses of Somerset.
• Essex County Council, Pargetting.
• Beard, Geoffrey, Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain.
• Beard, Geoffrey, Stucco and Decorative Plasterwork in Europe.
• Bankart, George, The Art of the Plasterer.