Bellamy Mansion- Wilmington NC

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While visiting my family in Wilmington NC we took a tour of the Bellamy Mansion which began construction in 1859 and finished in 1861. It was built entirely by slaves and freed men of color, as they called them. It is amazing that this home was built with free labor and while not getting paid that the artisans produced such a great product.
The first two pics are of the plaster crown jigs that were ingeniously crafted. The crown they produce blows away the 3 1/2" BS i commonly put up. Thought you guys might like seeing how it used to be done, thanks, Eric
 
awesome and yep labor was cheep  back then and had some real craftsman  thanks eric
 
Craftsmanship is something that I feel is directly relates to pride ... personal pride and in the work a person does.

Look throughout history and you will see many beautiful pieces of architecture the came from slavery founded societies or others that heavily exploit lower classes.

There's also a potential factor that being beaten, whipped or simply starving is a strong motivator for doing good work  [smile]

I'd bet there's almost as much work gone in the frame of that mirror in the 4th picture as there is going into some complete homes these days!

It's sad to think that with so many people involved in non productive wealth distribution games and so few actually creating "stuff", unique beauty like this is becoming an indulgence for the insanely rich alone.
 
One of the most amazing things about Wilmington is when the North was burning down cities in the South, towards the end of the war, they got to Wilmington and bc of how the Cape Fear river navigates it was strategically impossible to land in Wilmington without being picked off from the high river banks, so they just past and went on to Charleston, SC. Next trip we are going to tour the British Generals house that dates back to the 1700s. Glad you guys liked it. I didnt take a pic but the back of the jig was actually made out of an old stores sign. Good re use of materials. eric
 
Does anyone know the process of "hanging" this type of crown? The guide didnt seem to know. Is it done on the ground and then raised? Or was it done in place? Thanks Eric
 
They used to use the jigs to run along the wet plaster that was built up in situ. My father used to do this years ago when he first started his apprenticship as a plasterer. Now they are cast and made in a workshop.The carpenters on site used to make up the profiles for the renderers to use. I have done some moulding that was similar in size in Sydney a few years ago and I remember it being really heavy! We struck chalk lines on the ceiling and walls and then used cornise cement to adhere them. Cornise cement hardens incredibly well and holds some serious weight. Even when they are produced in a workshop using modern techniques they have a tendancy to bow and warp in transt or if not completely dried out before fitting.

My father did some moulding by hand in our house when I was only a kid and I could'nt get my head around how you could mould wet plaster like that! He used a boasting tool to finish the corners and I remember asking him why they called it a boasting tool and he explained that the used to be rivalry between the plasterers as to how good they could finish the corners because that was the most difficult part hence the name "boasting tool" came about.
I still have the one he gave me and use it for filling awkward spots.

Some mouldings also had 'add ons' where decorative pieces were put on after the main mould was run. Like flowers and decorative leaves etc. Nowadays they use glass fibres to strenghen the plaster but back then it was horse or pony hairs! We worked on a ceiling only a few weeks back where there was horse hair in it and we were told by the safety officer to use a mask as it could contain antrax!!! ......lovely, just what you want when you go to work [embarassed].
The smaller more intricate decorative moulds would have been hand carved moulds made by a skilled woodcarver. These would be filled with plaster of paris and hair then dried out and then adhered to the larger mould.I have seen some first hand and its hard to fathom the degree of skill needed to hand carve an inverted mould so they could pour plaster into it!
 
Kev said:
Craftsmanship is something that I feel is directly relates to pride ... personal pride and in the work a person does.

Look throughout history and you will see many beautiful pieces of architecture the came from slavery founded societies or others that heavily exploit lower classes.

There's also a potential factor that being beaten, whipped or simply starving is a strong motivator for doing good work  [smile]

I'd bet there's almost as much work gone in the frame of that mirror in the 4th picture as there is going into some complete homes these days!

It's sad to think that with so many people involved in non productive wealth distribution games and so few actually creating "stuff", unique beauty like this is becoming an indulgence for the insanely rich alone.
Click to expand...

Wow Kev you are a very enlightened indivual. I completely agree.
 
That was more of a response then i couldve imagined. My dad is gonna be psyched with that type of intel. The guide did say they were done with horse hair. Is there a way we could get a pic of the corner tool? I knew that was gonna be the hardest part, thanks Eric
 
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