An introduction to decorative plaster mouldings

 I and then the company originally became involved with handmade plaster when I could not believe the price I was quoted for a bespoke plaster coving, I had been quoted over £40 a linear meter plus the cost of the mould for a coving that we now sell for £8.50 per meter.

Prior to that I had not really given coving much thought, but once I started to look at the range of designs that were available, I realised there was a lot more to it than I had expected, I also found it to be much more interesting than I would ever have thought.

The history of plaster stretches back to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, who made extensive use of it for their temples and palaces, and after disappearing with the fall of the Roman Empire it reappeared here in England in the early Middle Ages, introduced from France where it had been seen by the King in Paris.

Originally only for the very rich over the centuries plaster became affordable for all, and with this grew up a set of rules and proportions governing its use.

There is no need today to follow these rules, people can and do, have anything they want wherever they want, but they are still interesting and provide a useful guide to others.

In this section of the website we are going to write more about the history of plaster, its styles and the rules that have grown up around its use, there will be tips on installation and pictures of finished jobs.

All of which I hope will be useful to anybody trying to decide which style of coving to choose.