Dead Dogs and Internal Decor

The process of researching a theme or subject for my daily writing  inevitably throws up many more ideas that can be safely parked and used at another time.

There can be interesting and sometimes surprising discoveries simply from following a thread that pops up and can be followed opening up yet more opportunities for self improvement and amusement.

Over the last two days I have been writing on the subject of things that at one time were commonplace in UK housing but are becoming increasingly confined to just memories amongst the now ageing population to whom such things were taken for granted.

We now live in a consumer led, throw away society where, as it is often said, we know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

I have covered, so far, Lincrusta as a miraculous material from the Victorian Era and the infamous and hazardous gas geysers that gave almost instantaneous hot water but at the same time threatened  a slow, drowsy death from carbon monoxide poisoning.

In researching both of these topics I regularly came across a word that evokes the ancient world and excites a lot of reminiscences amongst those of a certain, senior age.

The word is Distemper.

I was initially a bit confused as I have always tended to associate the word, having been a dog owner, with the very serious and contagious viral illness that afflicts and can be fatal to canines as well as, apparently, raccoons, ferrets and wolves.

The actual Distemper for my purposes is wholly different; in its simplest form it is probably the oldest kind of paint in existence.

Many primitive peoples, with little by way of refinement or wealth, resorted to using coloured earths from their local environments mixed with a water soluble binder for decorating their humble homes and for cultural advancement as in wall paintings and other forms of expression.

In its cheapness, ready availability, ease of preparation and use lay the motivation behind its use through the ages and with some resurgence even today, not just in sympathetic renovations but also in contemporary interior and exterior design.

Original Distemper consists of four simple ingredients, these being whiting, glue size, pigments for tinting and water. The combination of these basic constituents contributes to the specific attributes of Distemper of opacity, being hygienic, pure in colour and in a matt shade as well as a degree of fire retardation. When a change is called for the paint can be speedily and inexpensively removed.

Those who remember having Distempered walls in an old house, either self-applied out of necessity or inherited beneath multiple successive layers of decoration may not feel as nostalgic as my rather glowing description implies.

Most recollections of Distemper include, within the same sentence, a strong association with dampness and all of the odours and sensual implications that come with that particular aspect of household occupation.

It was suitable for application on plaster, cement, bare brickwork and on certain types of wallboard but not on actual woodwork .

Distemper was widely used in homes in the 19th and early 20th Centuries and I do come across traces of it in properties of that era by just scratching below the surface of modern finishes.

In the art world Distemper was a term given to a painting technique using rabbit skin glue and dried pigments amongst the basic ingredients made particularly famous in the Rennaissance period and even into the 1930's by such artists as Vuillard.

Although the word Distemper itself suggests something rather drab, dank and uninspiring the use of pigments did give some potential for individuality and flair to its users.

Only certain pigments could be used however as the alkaline composition of the whiting could often react adversely but mixing and blending produced such iconic colours as Vandyke Brown, Cobalt Blue, Viridian, Indian Red, raw and burnt Sienna, Dutch Pink, Ochre, Umber and Ultramarine.

Our near ancestors should be given the credit for celebrating their lives and of those surrounding them with such colours and textures when we perceive them, even a couple of generations before us as being, well, just existing in a monochrome world.