The word "scagliola" derives from the Italian scaglia, which means "scales or chips of marble." Although this artificial marble is indistinguishable from the original, it is actually a colored and polished plaster. Like real marble, scagliola's complex twists and veins go deep into the stone. Scagliola, therefore, provides a durable surface which is far more permanent and far more realistic in appearance than faux surfaces, usually wood, which are painted to resemble marble. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans experimented with scagliola, but the technique was principally developed by Italian monks in the 17th century. Over the following two hundred years, Italian craftsmen were brought to England to create scagliola finishings in many architectural contexts. Scagliola may be seen in some of the finest homes and buildings of the period. Exquisite examples include:
In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, scagliola was also very popular in the United States. Artificial marble furnishings at that time were created chiefly by itinerant plasterers, men who kept the details of their fabrication process a secret. After the 1920's, however, techniques of fabrication were forgotten. Scagliola virtually disappeared from American architecture. Today, the use of artificial marble has again revived. This resurgent interest is the result of four factors: a new appreciation of marble-like finishes, a dissatisfaction with the limitations that real marble places on design, the unavailability of traditional colors and types of marble, and the rising costs of quarrying. In addition to the fact that scagliola is inherently beautiful and can duplicate the appearance of any type of marble, it can be molded into any shape. Decorative, three-dimensional motifs which are impossible to produce in marble can be fabricated in scagliola. Because the artificial stone is less expensive than its marble original, it is a particularly attractive option for interior design and decoration. Amy Weston Wells and Kathleen Vissar learned the secrets of their trade while working on two of the largest scagliola projects undertaken in the United States over the last decade. In the State Department's Benjamin Franklin Dining Room, they helped fabricate thirty-two scagliola columns, each twelve feet in height. In the reconstruction of the Willard Hotel in Washington, they restored and created scagliola columns and pilasters. Wells Vissar has recently developed a line of scagliola tiles which are sold in exclusive tile showrooms nationwide. |