Desperately Seeking Picture Rail
The parlor of the 1894 Cross House. All primed and ready for decor. But an architectural element is missing.
The picture rail. ALL the picture rail in the house was removed at some point. I did a post about this sad, tragic event. The good news is that all the lost rail left a ghost outline on the walls, as seen here in the parlor, highlighted by my pencil. The double lines are 2-3/4-inches apart.
But 2-3/4-inches would not have been the actual height of my lost picture rail, as the top of such a rail does not actually touch the wall. So, while the ghost imprint on my wall is 2-3/4-inches high, my lost rail would have been like 3-inches high. My local lumberyard , and even my non-local lumberyards, do not carry anything higher than 1-3/4-inches. And that would look just silly in the huge rooms of the Cross House. I did find the rail pictured, but at 2-5/8-inches it is still not the right scale.
I can have picture rail milled for me. There is a knife charge (around $250) but otherwise the cost would not be high. In most rooms I will need something like basswood, and with oak in the entry hall.
It seems critical to recreate this important architectural feature, and if you know of a place carrying 3-inch picture rail in stock please let me know!
Oh, and…
…happy Thanksgiving!
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Talk to the folks at Bosely Molding, in Glen Burnie Maryland. They’ve been around since 1913 and have knives for a lot of profiles that they don’t list in the profiles on line. I went in a couple of months ago with some 1895 casing and mouse molding that I’d almost given up hope of matching. The nice folks there took the pieces to the back room and came back about ten minutes later saying that they had knives to cut them.
Any decent millwork shop can run moldings for you, and closer to home is best for the lengths needed to properly do a room without joints mid-wall. And having a new knife ground to your design shouldn’t cost more than $150-225. This should be pretty straightforward.
The bigger question is what pattern to do. There is really no surviving fragment in the basement and/or no ghost outline in the shellac on the edge of the casing where the molding butted into it anywhere in the house? (And I wouldn’t be surprised if different patterns were used upstairs or in less formal rooms.)
First, here is a site where you can see a few examples available from a shop here in Portland, they are organized by size and the 3″ ones start here.
This pattern (about any pattern with a bead) is about the only one that is period resonant.
Second, Internet Archive has quite few 1890s millwork catalogs. However, oddly, despite picture moldings being one of the most varied and interesting moldings (after casings), most of the catalogs only show a few boring ones.
Here is a typical example – a c1894 Rand McNally millwork catalog with the universal molding book of that time, which starts on page 279.
Despite a bajillion window stops, etc., it only shows four puny picture moldings.
This 1891 catalog page is only marginally better, though it does show how the molding could have been a full 2-3/4″.
Shimer produced knife cutter heads for molding machines, and their 1896 catalog shows how anemic our use of millwork is today. Sadly, they do not show picture molds, but the pages for corner blocks and door panels are interesting:
Here.
Here.
The molding catalogs didn’t change a lot over time, so you just need to be within a decade or so. This 1898 catalog is pretty exceptional (you’ll like the mantels) but again has no selection of picture molds.
So, having said all that, I’ll have to look at the catalogs in my collection at work to see if I can find anything.
Making easy, pattern hard. 😉
Bo! You brat!
You just ruined my afternoon plans!
Now I have NO choice but to spend hours drooling over all the links you provided!
Much less fattening than my afternoon plans.
As if that wasn’t enough, one other comment. The distance from picture mold to ceiling was often based on the size of the wallpaper frieze that needed to fit in it – what is your spacing? Is it consistent?
Most friezes were either 18″ or 20″ on the wall, give or take a 1/2″. If larger, sometimes border papers were used to fill the difference.
1894.
I did a previous post with more detail about my lost rails. The first-floor rails were either 22-inches below the ceiling (parlor and DR), or almost kissing the ceiling (entry hall).
The Irishman got a guy to make a knife and mill all my scrap wood into correct reproduction Craftsman header crown for me for $50. If they were closer we could probably work something out.
Are there any ghost marks on the door and window casings clear enough to make out the profile? If not, perhaps some careful cleaning or gradual stripping of newer layers of finish (those done after the picture rail was removed) would reveal some? Perhaps you’ve already tried, but I thought I’d suggest it.
I agree with Bo that whatever you have made, it will look best with the same geometric theme as the rest of your moulding. The millwork in your house is so intricate and ornate, plainer moulding just wouldn’t do it justice.
And finally, wow, Bo once again shares more fascinating knowledge! I’ve used some historic millwork catalogs to guide me in milling some mouldings, but wasn’t aware of how many are out there. Im bookmarking them for future reference!
There are at least three good reprints out there: Roberts, Mulliner and Blumer
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=millwork+catalog
In addition, the originals do come up with some regularity on eBay – search “millwork catalog”… As I’ve mentioned, most are variations on the Rand McNally or Shattock & McKay universal books, so while it might seem there are a lot, much is the same content with just minor differences. With patience, you can get nice pre-1900 ones for under $45.
And as the picture molding questions shows, they don’t always help. My experience here in Portland is that there are a lot of moldings and brackets and other details that were common in local mills and don’t show up at all in the catalogs.
Would this happen to work for you?
We ordered ours from this site a few months ago and have been very happy with it. They often run 25% off specials. Can’t wait to see that lovely room completed. Happy Thanksgiving, I am grateful for your blog and the inspiration it has provided me.
That is the same picture rail I show in the image above. Not large enough.
And thank you for the kind words! It is comments like that which keep me going.
Hey Ross, just a thought… Have you ever thought about hosting some sort of designers showcase where decorators come in, decorate a room, and you then give tours of the house? You could charge a fee, the decorators get to show off and sort of “advertise,” and the public gets to gawk at your beautiful house? You could make rules about what the decorators can and can’t do, like make permanent changes to structures or do silly things like paint wood or hang or alter wall papers. Just a thought. Any proceeds could go towards further renovation of the house or even be donated to charity if you are squeamish about “using the house for personal gains.” Again, just a thought.
Here is one.
2 5/8″ plus 3/4″. Not sure if the 3/4 is UP or OUT? And I didn’t see any oak, but it’s a start!
Thanks, Brandy.
Rachael suggested the same rail, which is the same in my picture/link.
But it ain’t large enough. Drat!
Negligibly larger, here.
In having a similar conversation with a carpenter friend they advised simply choosing a beveled window casing or chair rail the correct width, and having a shop cut/route the round edge from the thick side of the trim. May be cheaper than having knives cut???
Also something to consider, at least some rails (mine included) were gessoed and gilded (sometimes with patterned plaster).
Meg!!!!!!!!!
I have one ghost outline of the lost rail. Magical Bo has graciously offered to create a full-scale pattern of it.
And me being, well, me, I will likely pursue having a knife cut to recreate what has been lost. Because I need MILES of picture rail, the knife charge will in the end not be an issue.