Crafting Icons Of The Past (May/June 1990 | Volume: 41, Issue: 4)

Crafting Icons Of The Past

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May/June 1990 | Volume 41, Issue 4

To achieve the appearance of age and wear that he needed for the furnishings in his houses, Mizner created his own antiques. He worked up a material called Woodbite, a composite of wood shavings and plaster of Paris, which when molded turned out uncannily authentic-looking ceilings and doors. His studios made ceramic roof and floor tiles, wrought-iron grilles and hardware, and furniture, which his workmen antiqued by scraping with broken glass or beating with chains. Some surviving examples are shown here.