Pigments and pianos: painter and varnisher Lyman White

Abstract

The Winterthur Museum & Library owns the stencil and ornament collection of nineteenth-century Boston painter and varnisher Lyman White (1800-1880). The following study uses this collection to analyze the two phases of White's career. From his teens to the late 1830s he painted furniture. The stenciling technique he utilized when painting and stenciling is embedded in his surviving tools and materials and illustrates the connection between the painting process and the final product. The second stage of White's career was spent varnishing pianos at the Chickering & Co. piano manufactory. Chickering's approach to craftsmanship in light of the Industrial Revolution provided White with opportunities for advancement and a sense of responsibility and pride in his work.