When the pilasters' paint samples were analyzed 22 different layers of paint were found that dated from ca. 1812, when the pilasters were installed, through to the 1990s.  The first coat of paint found on the samples was a cream-color paint that matched the paint found on other ca. 1812 exterior trim elements.  Above this layer were two layers of paint mixed with sand.  The top layer was a cream-color that exactly matched the sanded paint found on the columns and the lower paint layer was colored gray-blue.  The gray-blue paint color was also found to be very similar to the color of Montpelier's walls after it was stuccoed and painted to look like granite in ca. 1848.  Therefore, the cream-colored sanded paint found above the gray-blue paint had to date to after ca. 1848.  This meant that the matching cream-colored sand paint on the Colonnade column had to also date to after ca. 1848 and that at least one of the whitewashes found below the sanded cream-colored paint also could predate ca. 1848.