Architectural molding fragment from Charleston, South Carolina

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A molding fragment from Charleston, South Carolina. The fragment is from a horizontal architectural element of a building. The fragment’s body is composed of cement. Above it is thick decorative layer that is finished in a coat of plaster with a lime wash. There is a large patch of stucco on the back of the fragment that has a tiny amount of brick adhered to the surface in the bottom left corner. The stucco also has embedded reddish hairs of varying thicknesses. The back has an impression of a basket weaving pattern on the surface of the cement and there are diagonal hash marks impressions in the stucco. The fragment’s profile is a flat top above a thick thumb molding. Below, at the center of the profile, is a wide fillet that slopes into a concave hallow at the bottom of the fragment. The thumb molding has a large loss on the right side.

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