The Art of Painting a Floorcloth
During the first phase of the Billiard Room restoration, a small portion of an Acklen period floorcloth was discovered under a college era wall. The Acklens likely used floorcloths in rooms that received heavy foot traffic, such as the front hall, the dining rooms, and the billiard room.
Floorcloths were made of large sections of canvas carefully painted in multiple colors to resemble popular carpet patterns of the period. Workers in large factories produced such floor coverings. Designs were block-printed by hand with one patterned block used per color. The more colors in a floorcloth the more blocks required for printing. Once the design was complete, up to ten coats of varnish were added to serve as a protective layer.
Grace Abernethy, a Kentucky based artist who has painted other historic finishes at the mansion,
took the surviving remnant of original floorcloth from the billiard room and replicated the design. Working over a five-month period, she sewed canvas strips by hand to completely cover the floor.
She then carved linoleum blocks which she used to print each square of the design onto the cloth. The design was then covered with multiple layers of varnish. Recreated with painstaking details, this floorcloth makes Belmont Mansion’s reproduction unique among house museums in the South and indeed the country.
On March 3rd, 2025 in celebration of Women’s History Month, we are holding a lecture at the mansion where you can learn more about Grace’s work, along with other female-drive restoration projects in the billiard room. Speakers include Grace Abernethy, Kelly Ciociola, and Elizabeth Williams, with the conversation moderated by Belmont Mansion’s Executive Director, Myers Brown. Tickets are free but advanced registration is required.
