The range of skills of the average painter and decorator were very high throughout the 18th and 19th centuries as he was expected to have the ability to hang paper, carry out plain and fancy work including stencilling, marbling and graining. However there was a steady decrease in these skills in Australia during the first 25 years of the 20th century.

Reasons for this decline include the ready availability of ready mixed paints which enabled the home owner to carry out their own decorating, the fashion for less elaborate decoration and the growing popularity of electric light which created much less heat and fumes, created much less discolouration than gas, and therefore made interior decoration more durable and longer lasting.  These factors worked together in creating a fall in enrolments in trade courses, and a decline in the specialised skills used to achieve the dramatic effects seen in Victorian and Edwardian homes. The 1930s depression followed by World War II, ended any prospect of a return to previous standards of decoration in the Australian home.  

Paint -- South Australia

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. From the ground up August 2004-