A term used broadly to describe all forms of decorative plasterwork, although it refers specifically to relief decoration modelled and moulded in lime and aggregate (often marble dust) mixes, with or without the addition of gypsum plaster. These mixes can take fine detail and be worked to a hard, smooth finish. The word also has regional variations : in Italy it is used to describe a range of pliable materials which can be shaped; in Britain and the USA it can refer also to cement and sand renders, which from the late 18th century were used on building faces to imitate stonework. Stucco has been used since ancient times. Still widely used throughout the world, it is one of the most common of traditional building materials. Historically, the term "plaster" has often been interchangeable with "stucco"; the term is still favoured by many, particularly when referring to the traditional lime-based coating. Interior stucco was made usually made with gypsum, marble dust and glue. It was often moulded into ornamental shapes and polished to a marble-like finish. During the 17th and 18th centuries, elaborate painted figures and ornaments were made with stucco. By the nineteenth century "stucco," although originally denoting fine interior ornamental plasterwork, had gained wide acceptance in the United States to describe exterior plastering. "Render" and "rendering" are also terms used to describe stucco, especially in Great Britain. Exterior stucco is usually composed of cement, sand and hydrated lime, or lime and sand or brick dust. It is mixed with water and applied wet. Occasionally, pebbles or other aggregate are added for texture. Examples include pebble dash, rough cast, tabby and spatter dash. Other historic treatments and coatings related to stucco in that they consist at least in part of a similarly plastic or malleable material include: parging and pargeting, wattle and daub, "cob" or chalk mud, pise de terre, rammed earth, briquete entre poteaux or bousillage, half-timbering, and adobe. All of these are regional variations on traditional mixtures of mud, clay, lime, chalk, cement, gravel or straw. Many are still used today. Trench (2000); Grimmer (2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2000); English Heritage (2000). [J. Cassar, R. de Angelis]