dk nkf - Nordisk Konservatorforbund Danmark

Industrially produced paint and the perspective
of its reconstruction.
Many museums operate with different aspects of
authenticity. Exhibitions of a historic environment
often need both material and visual authenticity
to complete the display. In this article material
authenticity is defined as giving the original material
of the object highest priority, and visual authenticity is
defined as giving the original appearance of the object
highest priority. In cases where visual authenticity is of
importance, reconstruction of surfaces is an option. This
applies to objects with severely deteriorated or altered
surfaces on interiors, exteriors and occasionally on
objects. An example could be the display of industrial
machinery or objects related to the production of food.
A reconstruction of the surface may also be advisable
as a protective measure, when the object is to be located
in a harsh environment.
Den Gamle By is an open-air museum in Aarhus,
the second largest city in Denmark. The museum’s
focus is urban history and appears as a town from the
middle of the nineteenth century. On first sight, many
visitors have the impression that the museum is in
fact an old part of the city of Aarhus, but the houses
have all been dismantled from Danish towns and
erected on this site. Den Gamle By employs a team
of brick layers, carpenters and painters who specialize
in rebuilding and restoring old houses. They use the
original materials and tools as often as possible, but
still adhering to modern health and safety measures.
Using original materials and tools is important because
the museum’s core focus is to give a quality “historic
experience”, taking the spectator on a visual and thus
emotional travel in time.
Most objects in Den Gamle By are preserved and
restored with focus on material authenticity. However,
there is another category of objects, where the priorities
are the visual authenticity as well as the authentic
functionality of the items. An example could be the
signboards hanging outside shops. They have to be
nynne raunsgaard sethia
maintained according to the standard, the shopkeeper
would have kept them. Reconstruction of original
surfaces is also used for this category of objects.
In 2008, Den Gamle By began recreating a modern
city adjacent to the existing museum. As with the rest
of Den Gamle By, the area will consist of dismantled
houses from all over Denmark. The purpose is to
present everyday life in the twentieth century, but has
two major focus years: 1927 and 1974. This challenges
the way the craftsmen work. For example, our painters
must now take into account, that it is historically correct
to use industrially manufactured paints, and this raises
questions. Which types of paint were used for which
purposes during the twentieth century? Is it possible
to reconstruct these materials and their methods of
application?
The object of this paper is to discuss the possibilities
of reconstructing industrially manufactured paint. It
includes an outline of when the different types of paint
came into use in Denmark during the twentieth century
and which purposes they served. The paper will focus
on the Danish paint industry, because it is and has been
the major supplier for the Danish professional painters
since the First World War. Before that period English,
German and Dutch paints were very popular [1,2,3].
During the 1920s, the Danish paint manufacturing
industry grew rapidly and was eventually able to
saturate the Danish demand and also export large
quantities all over the world [4,5,6].
What is industrially
manufactured paint?
During the twentieth century, the paint industry as well
as their suppliers in the chemical industry continuously
developed products to meet the demands of customers
and to survive in the market. Those who survived did it
by constantly reformulating their products to improve
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