The WILLIAMSBURG Brand Takes a “Trend-Meets-Tradition” Approach

The WILLIAMSBURG brand takes a “Trend-Meets-Tradition” approach to home décor inspired by the extensive design archive of the not-for-profit Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Fusing the best of American craftsmanship with international influences that accented homes of the era, WILLIAMSBURG offers a fresh take on 18th-century design, reimagining classic elements for today’s lifestyles. GARDEN IMAGES

Highlighted by a magnificent watercolor painted by Georg Ehret in 1737, this botanical design captures the natural ambience of gardens in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area. The large magnolia blossoms, flowering dogwood, and occasional butterfly are shown in multiple colors on a lightly textured field which mimics fine linen or, in one instance, cloth of gold. Six variations include cream ground with green, blue, and beige, brown ground with deep pinks and blue-greens, a charcoal ground with purples and ochres. There is also a distinctive metallic gold ground enhanced by plum accents. Dickinson Trellis or Amelia Stripe would make a handsome partner.

TAUNTON TEXTURE

During the 18th- century, Taunton, England, was a center for the manufacture of woolen broadcloth. This wall paper, named for that city, bears a similarity. The textured background looks like woven cloth, while vertical and horizontal faux slubs mimic the appearance and feel of earlier fabrics made from nubby hand-spun yarns. This pattern, in five palettes including beige with taupe and white, or light and medium grey with cream, offers a subtle complement to many other designs in the WILLIAMSBURG collection. For example, use with Dinwiddie Damask or with John Rocque’s London Map, circa 1740s, Mural.

CHIPPENDALE FRET

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation library owns a rare first edition of Chippendale’s 1754 book of “elegant and useful designs of household furniture”. This motif was inspired by a Gothic-style fret shown in that book. The small scale print, in a duo of contrasting color, has interlocking lattice work suggestive of the medieval period or Moorish design. Included in the five color ways are aquamarine with rich cream or vivacious sprout green with warm white. This is a lovely uncluttered counterpoint to Isham Indienne or Solomon’s Seal.

PALACE MOIRÉ

Lovely tone-on-tone coloration and matte-on-sheen finish emulate the watered effect achieved by applying heat and pressure to silk, creating a shimmering design. A woolen version of this fabric was used for curtains in Colonial Williamsburg’s Governor’s Palace. On this elegant wall paper, the slightly raised pattern adds to the illusion of depth. There are seven palettes, including a serene white on pearl or an audacious yellow/green. Use with Solomon’s Seal and Galt Embroidery.

ISHAM INDIENNE

An indienne is a Western cloth made in imitation of an imported fabric, such as color-fast cotton chintzes brought to Europe by the East India Company. This dynamic pattern melds exotic Eastern and Western design sources with updated Trend Meets Tradition color ways to create a fanciful display of flowers and foliage in an ogee and trailing combination. The striking oversized print is available in five palettes, including a mix of beige with tan, cream, aqua, teal, dark green and metallic gold. Coordinates include Chippendale Fret and Amelia Stripe.

GALT EMBROIDERY

Baroque wrought iron gates flanked the entrance to the Governor’s Palace in 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia. This scroll-work pattern takes its graceful embroidery design from that trend, popular when Christopher Wren rebuilt London and when Williamsburg was built as the capital of Virginia. The linen-look wall paper is embossed with realistic raised stitchery in a large format. Among the five versions are bright aqua or bright pink, both with beige overlay. Mix and match with Solomon’s Seal and Palace Moiré in suitable hues.

DINWIDDIE DAMASK

This large decorous design maintains the gracious aspect of the fabric which inspired it - white silk damask woven in England or Europe, circa 1700, when lace-like scroll designs became popular. The original, used as a panel in a woman’s gown, is in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg. Jagged leaves, feathery curling fronds, and small flowers are among the pattern elements printed in raised inks on a mottled glistening field. Select from matte cream on metallic golden beige or matte golden tan on metallic gold, and two more. Pair with Amelia Stripe or Taunton Texture in harmonious colors.

AMELIA STRIPE

Named for Princess Amelia, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, this gracious pattern was inspired by a woven silk-and-wool upholstery fabric now in the collections of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Mingling two-inch bands of color with multiple pinstripes and quarter inch ribbons, the print has the soft textured appearance of a finely woven cloth; some variations have a sheen like polished cotton. Wed to Garden Images or Isham Indienne in compatible hues.

ASHLAND

The Colonial Williamsburg collection boasts several 18th-century Indian textiles featuring embroidered or block-printed boteh motifs, the teardrop shapes known as “paisleys” for the Scottish town where ladies’ wraps were manufactured beginning in the 19th-century. This elaborate large scale pattern is printed in raised inks on a metallic field with a time-worn appearance. The meeting of flat and shining inks creates a luminous and ornate palette, including matte with metallic beige or matte with metallic taupe, plus two more. Taunton Texture and Palace Moiré are complementary designs. DICKINSON TRELLIS

Thomas Chippendale’s furniture pattern book, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, owned by 1770s Williamsburg cabinetmaker Edmund Dickinson, inspired this bold fretwork pattern “in the Chinese Taste”. The large trellis is composed of geometric shapes, including octagons and rectangles, printed in dual colors to add the illusion of dimension against the solid background. There are five to choose from; among them are white with blue and teal or cream with white and tan. Use with Garden Images or Solomon’s Seal. SOLOMON’S SEAL

Solomon’s Seal is a gracefully arching woodland plant suitable for shade gardens. Its namesake design is based on copperplate-printed curtains in the collection of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. This botanical, depicting the flowers and seed pods in two colors on a solid backdrop, is open, airy, and quite large. Five selections include cream with teal and white, or cream with grey and black. Use with Palace Moiré or Galt Embroidery in similar colors.

HALIFAX LACE

Details from two pieces of antique Italian silk, now in the collections of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, were the inspiration for this delicate trompe l’oeil design. The illusion is of a medium scale ogee pattern composed of sumptuous lace on a solid backdrop, sometimes glowing satin or metallic. This wall paper comes in six versions, including grey satin sheen with matte grey, and white or bright blue with light blue and white. Palace Moiré is a perfectly lovely companion.

PEMBROKE

Tan wool damask, woven about 1750 in England or France, was used in a woman’s petticoat now in the costume collections of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. This large scale damask is an interpretation of that antique fabric; it features bold, yet elegant, foliage in raised matte ink on a glowing satin-like field. Select from neutral flat cream on cream satin or spirited red on red/orange, plus four more color ways. Combine with Amelia Stripe or Palace Moiré.

JOHN ROCQUE’S LONDON MAP, CIRCA 1740s, MURAL

The daunting task of surveying and engraving a map of 1740s London fell to cartographer John Rocque. It took several years and the result was printed on 16 sheets, pieced together, pasted to linen, and hung from rollers. Modern technology has made it possible to replicate that detailed map as a mural, close to the size of the antique example in the collections of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. This handsome wall covering is available in black and grey on creamy linen paper or on subdued metallic-bronze. Complete the room with Taunton Texture in similar shades.