Margaret and Edward Fabian Wall Stencil Research Collection, 1977-1982

Title:

Margaret and Edward Fabian Wall Stencil Research Collection, 1977-1982

Creator:

Fabian, Margaret W., 1909-1989
Fabian, Edward

Accession / Call Number:

1987.043

Object ID:

1987.043

Date:

1977-1982

Physical Description:

27 boxes

Scope and Content:

The Margaret W. and Edward S. Fabian Wall Stencil Research Collection, compiled from 1977 to 1982. Margaret W. Fabian (1909-1989) and her husband Edward visited 460 homes and taverns throughout New England in an attempt to document all known early decorative wall paintings. They produced photographs, slides, stencils, tracings, and written records. Mr. and Mrs. Fabian organized their meticulous notes and photographs in folders arranged by state, then town, then the name of the current owner of the building in which the wall decorations were found. Since the owners have in most cases changed since then, the files are now arranged by state, town, then the commonly-known name of the building if it has one (“Brown's Tavern,” “Smith Homestead,” etc.). In these cases, the owner when the Fabians visited is given in parenthesis on the folder heading. If there is no common name for the building, it is listed by the name of the owner when the Fabians visited. The couple seem to have concentrated upon northern New England in their travel. Mr. and Mrs. Fabian took Polaroid photographs of the wall decorations they found. Sometimes these are supplemented by slides, and occasionally by purchased images or photographs given them by the owner of the building. Photographs, slides, and written information are together in the folders. They kept secondary source material about the buildings in the folders with their notes and photographs about them. This includes magazine or newspaper articles, and correspondence with town clerks or other knowledgeable people in the town. They also kept all correspondence with the owners of the buildings they documented. This material has all been retained. The stencils made or copied by Mrs. Fabian, along with pieces of wall paper and some reverse paintings on glass are in the New Hampshire Historical Society's Museum collection, accession number 1987.5.

Subjects:

Mural painting and decoration , Interior decoration , Wallpaper

Locations:

New Hampshire

People:

Fabian, Margaret W., 1909-1989 , Fabian, Edward

Credit Line:

Gift of Margaret Fabian.

Restrictions:

Available for research.

Level Description:

Collection