Staff (building material)

Staff is a kind of artificial stone used for covering and ornamenting temporary buildings.

It is chiefly made of plaster of Paris (powdered gypsum), with a little cement, glycerin, and dextrin, mixed with water until it is about as thick as molasses.

To strengthen it, coarse cloth or bagging, or fibers of hemp or jute, are put into the molds before casting.

Its natural color is murky white, but it may be made to resemble any kind of stone.

Staff was invented in France in about 1876 and was used in the construction and ornamentation of the buildings of the Paris Expositions of 1878 and of 1889.

Detail of a cornice moulded in staff, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition , 1893
Facade of the Fisheries Building, World's Columbian Exposition . Three pillared archways are constructed and finished, in front of a bare wall of wooden studding that has not yet been rendered.