Popular in 19th century homes, plaster ceiling medallions offer a visual transition and seat for a light fixture in important rooms. Their elaborate bas-relief designs also helped hide soot from oil and gas lamps. <\/p>\n
They were de rigueur in the main entrance hall, parlors, dining room, and large bedrooms. In Brooklyn, you will not find them in small side bedrooms, halls, or bathrooms, where wall sconces would be used, nor in kitchens, where a J-hook might hang over the sink.<\/p>\n
As one might expect, styles of medallions changed along with other interior fashions and are one of several clues to the age of a building. Greek Revival and Italianate medallions often employ leaf motifs. At their most simple, such a medallion might consist of leaves attached directly to the ceiling and radiating out from a rosette in the center. Plain-run moldings or beads might encircle the fanciful center decoration. Elaborate variations in homes of the well to do might be layered over bits of trellis or other background patterns and studded with blossoms. A medallion could be made entirely by hand on site, cast off site in a mold, or built up using a combination of methods.<\/p>\n %<\/span><\/span> | %<\/span><\/a> | %<\/span><\/a> | %<\/span><\/a> | %<\/span><\/a> Single Page<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Popular in 19th century homes, plaster ceiling medallions offer a visual transition and seat for a light fixture in important rooms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176696,"featured_media":433797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"schneps_byline":"","schneps_post_style":"","schneps_post_source":"","schneps_syndicated_read_more":"","schneps_post_source_sitename":"","schneps_syndicated_thumb_html":"","schneps_syndicated_thumb_src":"","schneps_post_source_shortname":"","schneps_post_source_url":"","schneps_post_source_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7644],"tags":[21673,2597,7444,25825,30368,7461],"districts":[],"class_list":["post-433720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interiors-renovation","tag-brownstoner-magazine","tag-featured","tag-lighting","tag-plaster","tag-plaster-ceiling-medallions","tag-renovators-toolbox"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Medallion Matters: The History and Care of Plaster Ceiling Medallions","url":"http:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/interiors-renovation\/plaster-ceiling-medallion-history-repair-care-rewiring-tips-19th-century-gas-lighting-victorian-electrical-box\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/interiors-renovation\/plaster-ceiling-medallion-history-repair-care-rewiring-tips-19th-century-gas-lighting-victorian-electrical-box\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ceiling-medallion-rosette-plaster-history-bed-stuy-sdevries-1-copy.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ceiling-medallion-rosette-plaster-history-bed-stuy-sdevries-1-copy.jpg"},"articleSection":"Interiors & Renovation","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cate Corcoran"}],"creator":["Cate Corcoran"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Brownstoner","logo":""},"keywords":["brownstoner magazine","featured","lighting","plaster","plaster ceiling medallions","renovator's toolbox"],"dateCreated":"2021-07-07T14:00:00Z","datePublished":"2021-07-07T14:00:00Z","dateModified":"2024-07-30T16:26:59Z"},"rendered":"