The Bay State Decorative Colorguide is a traveling salesperson’s kit for the sale of interior paint. It was created around the 1930s by Wadsworth Howland & Co., a Boston-based importer and dealer of artist supplies and drafting stationary for architects and engineers. Only two such Colorguides of this design are known to have been made. The other is titled the DeVoe Decorative Colorguide and is housed in the collection at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA. 

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The kit is a black painted fabric-covered wood box with five hand-operated dials, a glass viewing window on the lid, and a number of internal hand-operated mechanical components. Turning the five dials allows the viewer to see the combination of color and decoration choices for interior domestic rooms (kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room, and bedroom). The mechanics are still fully functional. 

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The Colorguide was also the subject of my Fall 2021 preventive minor project. Download my report below to read more. During the semester I:

• Outlined the agents of deterioration that made the object most vulnerable 

• Visited the Athenaeum of Philadelphia to view the DeVoe Colorguide and compare its condition

• Gathered resources on the conservation practices of mechanical/functional artworks

• Conducted an experiment measuring relative humidity and temperature with data loggers to determine if a microclimate is created inside the Colorguide

• Designed and fabricated a housing 

• Developed and wrote a handling guideline