Near infrared spectroscopic studies on coatings of 19th century wooden parquets from manor houses in South-Eastern Poland

The floor in a building is an integral part of the interior and is usually considered as a very valuable component of decoration. The flooring style, construction, manufacturing technologies, finishing and maintenance reflects local traditions, available resources and craftsmanship. Traditional techniques of parquet surface finishing were used in manor houses of South-Eastern Poland until the 1st half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the major part of historical wooden parquets was irreversibly destroyed due to the introduction of collective property and the expropriation of manor houses after World War II. It is necessary to develop the knowledge related to the chemical, physical and mechanical properties of antique floor heritage, for its proper conservation. Near infrared spectroscopy was applied here for rapid and non-destructive recognition of natural finishes traditionally applied for the protection of the wooden floors. The system was capable to correctly identify the reference finishes applied on contemporary wood samples. However, analyses of antiques floors were more problematic. The set of samples of original antique decorative wooden flooring was collected from manor houses in Tarnowiec and Falejówka. Both houses contained well preserved wooden flooring that had not been subject to restoration in the past. The method shows great potential, even if in some cases an ambiguous classification was obtained. The reasons included natural deteriorations of floors during service life. Originally used substances might change their chemical composition during lifetime as a result of aging, weathering, usage and external contaminations. Given that, it was concluded that the results of spectroscopic evaluations might provide valuable assistance to conservators and facilitate decisions on the proper object maintenance.