§ SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (Wigtonshire)To ask the hon. Member for West Derbyshire, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether it is in
† See (4) Debates, cxxv., 1434.316 accordance with instructions from the Office of Works that the vases and stonework on the river from of Somerset House are being painted white; how far it is proposed to carry the painting; and whether he has considered he effect of coating good Portland stone with white lead.(Answered by Mr. Victor Cavendish.) Not a particle of stonework has been painted, therefore the question of the effect of white lead paint on Portland stone does not arise. The pediment and enrichments, together with the lower part of the dome, are of stucco and wood (almost entirely the latter). This work has probably been painted during the whole time of its existence. The vases are of a clay composition and have also always been painted, as is evidenced by the fact that the old coats of paint are from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch thick.