Sawyer's seminal work was first published in 1951. It offers straightforward practical instruction on the tried and tested methods of plastering as it was practised in the traditional way before the Second World War. It includes very useful drawings of the different features, including the tools, running moulds and geometry for setting out. The chapter describing running mouldings in situ will be of particular interest to the conservation practitioner since this method is now rarely used, but is considered the correct way to repair historic plasterwork. Jeff Orton and Tim Ratcliffe have provided a valuable Introduction to the book which not only gives an interesting background to the author but also comments on the materials or methods which are no longer considered appropriate.

Decorative plasterwork was created by skilled craftsmen, and for over four hundred years it has been an essential part of the interior decoration of the British country house. In this detailed and comprehensive study, Geoffrey Beard has created a book that will delight the eye and inform the interested reader. For those who have sometimes been puzzled by the complexities of plaster decoration it will be a most useful work of reference on a fascinating art form, about which no book has been published for nearly fifty years. After discussing the part that patrons played in commissioning and financing these beautiful decorations, a useful chapter is devoted to materials and methods of work and here the author describes the ingredients of good plaster; he has studied the work of present-day English plasterers and Swiss stucco-restorers in order to establish precisely how the materials of plaster and stucco were composed and used.