Country Life article by Amicia De Moubray
photographs by Frank Noon
May 17 2001.

Painted floorcloths, made of hard-wearing, painted canvas, were first introduced into English country houses in the 18th century, and remained popular until the advent of linoleum in 1860. Consequently, floorcloths gradually went out of fashion, until their final demise in about 1914. Sophie Sarin, an artist who specialises in painted floorcloths, trained in fashion design at the Royal College of Art, subsequently teaching fashion at Ravensbourne College of design and Communication, as well as working in the fashion industry. She began experimenting with floorcloths when she was doing up her own house. ‘It was the height of fashion for paint effects and I did everything - scumbling, dragging, ragging - and thought it would be exciting to be able to paint a picture on a large piece of canvas’ A small piece about Miss Sarin’s work published in a magazine in the early Nineties, illustrated with a picture of one of her floorcloths, led to several requests and her new career took off.

The first major commission she took on was to execute eight floorcloths for the recent restoration of Soho House Museum, Matthew Boulton’s home, near Birmingham (COUNTRY LIFE, February 27, 1997). ‘As a pioneering industrialist, Mr Boulton would have been interested in anything new and fashionable,’ Miss Sarin says. There are references to floorcloths in Boulton’s archives, as well as a small drawing of one which Miss Sarin used as the basis for her design for the entrance hall. The result is a striking, boldly coloured floorcloth. The palette was inspired by the extra-ordinary colour scheme of the marble floor in the ante-room at Syon House, Middlesex. ‘It was complex working out the mathematics of the design, allowing for all the pillars and the alcoves. I had to keep measuring and re-measuring,’ Miss Sarin says. The other seven floor cloths are simpler both in design and installation, as they are mainly freestanding. Floor cloths were traditionally thought suitable for the rooms of senior servants, such as a butler’s pantry or a steward’s room. ‘Country-house owners only rated floorcloths as status symbols in the entrance halls, where they could be seen to great advantage. Elsewhere, they seem generally to have served as a secondary decorative purpose, or mainly utility function,’ states the catalogue of the ‘Country House Floors’ exhibition held at Temple Newsam, Yorkshire in 1987. One of Miss Sarin’s floorcloths for Boulton’s house was for the housekeeper's room.

Many of the floorcloths for halls were painted to imitate the geometric and classical designs in vogue at the time. They provided a cheaper alternative to inlaid marble floors. Another traditional use for floorcloths were under sideboards. In 1771, Chippendales outworkers at Harewood spent six hours ‘at the oil cloths for the sideboard in the dining room’.

The floorcloths are made out of standard artists canvas, 12oz cotton duck. The first step is to nail it straight onto a wooden surface to stretch it and enable a coat of primer to be applied to the back. After many layers have been applied, the canvas is sanded down to ensure that the surface is smooth. It also means that the floorcloth will be made more durable. They can be vacuumed, swept and mopped with a mild detergent and water, but do require an annual varnishing. Miss Sarin applies a base colour before drawing on the pattern: ‘ I use water-based materials as much as possible, using many different techniques to apply the colour, such as sponging on the paint. Any effect is possible ­ for instance, I can make the surface resemble dusty marble that looks as though it has aged during time, or old and cracked, or brand spanking new.’ Just as in the 19th century there was a vogue for floorcloths resembling Turkey carpets, Miss Sarin has executed floorcloths loosely inspired by Aubusson carpets. The final stage is to revarnish, and revarnish’.

Another exciting commission was for a floorcloth for the dining-room lobby at Kenwood House, London. The design was drawn up by Alec Cobbe in the manner of Robert Adam carpet designs, echoing the ceiling of the room ­ in this instance, the coffered plaster ceiling. It is a handsome piece and is an excellent example of the decorative potential of using floorcloths in historic interiors. She has recently finished another imitation Classical stone floorcloth for the Navy entrance of Somerset House. Being Swedish, Miss Sarin was anxious to include an allusion to Sir William Chambers, the architect of Somerset House, who himself was born in Sweden and was awarded the Swedish honour of the Order of the Polar Star. ‘I did a lot of research and enlisted the help of Mr. Per Sorbom, the Swedish cultural attaché.’ The end result is that she silk-screened copies of Swedish papers relating to Chambers directly onto the floorcloth. The papers are apparent only on close inspection. ‘I like to think of the floorcloth as a little puzzle for people.’

Floorcloths are eminently suitable for bathrooms, kitchens or children’s nurseries, as not only are they waterproof, but they are easily cleaned and also provide a welcome opportunity to give a room an individual character. An early floorcloth Miss Sarin was asked to do was for a nursery and has a charming border of little speckled eggs. Another contemporary commission was for a red kitchen floor with silver leaf designs stencilled on, inspired by a ceiling in a palace in Rajastan. During the years, Miss Sarin has developed her technique and is constantly experimenting with new methods, allowing the cloths to be produced in her studio and transported for installation on-site. The floorcloths can be laid wall to wall, or laid in the manner of a rug on the existing floor.