Historic Wallpaper

Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation Volume 4 Number 3 Historic wallpaper Allyson McDermott Received (in revised form): 5th November, 2015 E-mail: [email protected] Allyson McDermott served on the Board of vided the inspiration for sustainable Trustees of the Institute of Conservation and re-use. Trinity House, was Chair of the Historic Interiors As well as being used forensically to iden- Group Icon, lectures extensively on wallpaper tify and date structural additions or alter- and the conservation of the historic interior and ations, surviving wallpaper can also reveal the has written many articles on the subject. She is a social history of the house by highlighting past adviser to Sotheby’s and The National Trust the taste, status and aspirations of a succession and has undertaken research into the use of of occupants. In a wider national context, it Chinese Papers in the English Country House as also provides evidence for the development part of the V&A/RCA Conservation Programme. of style and fashion, the availability of materi- She runs Allyson McDermott Historic Interiors. als and the march of technology from the simple block printing and stencilling of the ABSTRACT late 17th century to the digital revolution of Wallpapers can provide a wealth of information to the present day.1 help understanding the development and use of an With each new discovery we are learning historic building, but they are also valuable and more about this intriguing and multi-faceted often beautiful objects in their own right and as material, expanding our knowledge and such need both appreciation and care. increasing our understanding of its development and use over four centuries. Keywords: wallpaper, conservation, history, development, flocking, hand blocking HISTORY AND CONSERVATION Although wallpaper is often dismissed as being merely a cheap imitation of the finer INTRODUCTION stuffs of textile and tapestry, it does have sig- Wallpaper may seem quirky, mildly inter- nificant advantages over both: it is relatively esting but essentially peripheral to the main durable, easy to acquire, fast to apply and is business of conservation within the historic instantly replaceable to accommodate house, but nothing could be further from changes in fashion or function. the truth. In common with research into The earliest English ‘wallpapers’ date from architectural paint, it has been proven to be the 17th century and were simple, multipur- a powerful tool in understanding the devel- pose designs that have also been found lining opment, archaeology and use of historic deed boxes, furniture, cupboards and case buildings. Research and identification of instruments. Usually imitating black Irish or original wallpaper ‘finds’ has informed Spanish embroideries, wallpaper sheets were Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation many conservation and refurbishment proj- small, the scale limited by the size of the single Vol. 4, No. 3, 2015, pp. 151–161 © Henry Stewart Publications, ects and exciting discoveries have even pro- sheets of paper used as the substrate. Most 2046-9594 Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Henry Stewart Publications IP: 185.24.85.49 On: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:40:45 Page 151 Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications Historic wallpaper were printed in carbon black ink from a hand- Many shamelessly imitated textiles, such as carved wooden block. Any colour was usually large-scale silk damasks or cut velvets using applied by hand or through a leather stencil. block printing, sumptuously enhanced by During the early 18th century wallpaper sprinkled woollen flock and varnished to was perceived as a desirable modern alterna- give the lustre of silk. As some of these grand tive. Stylish flock wallpapers were considered designs are over a metre high, an innovative, clean, hygienic and brilliant alternatives to but anonymous manufacturer joined several heavy textile hangings, particularly when smaller paper sheets together before applying used in dining rooms where smells could the ground colour and printing, thus invent- accumulate. Chinese (or ‘India Papers’)2 pro- ing the ‘roll’ of wallpaper. vided a delightful alternative to dour Jacobean Large-scale flock papers were popular in panelling, bringing lightness, fem ininity and the extravagant ‘show rooms’ of both town exoticism to the decoration of many 18th and country houses, such as in the Prince century private apartments. The fashion con- Regent’s bedroom at Clandon Park, Surrey, scious aristocracy used large-scale, expensive and the Long Gallery at Temple Newsam papers extensively, while smaller, patterned House, Leeds. Few major houses can have flocks and distemper papers were popular been without at least one example and among the growing middle classes — not just Clandon had at least six, all dating from circa for reasons of cost, but also because they pro- 1730 when the house was built by Leoni. vided instant impact and could enliven and Smaller-scale flock wallpapers have been enrich even the most unpretentious of discovered in the formal rooms of many mid- houses. Robert Dossie in ‘The Handmaid to dle-class homes and the townhouses of the the Arts’ (2nd edition, 1764) wrote: burgeoning merchant classes, such as Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth or the Ancient The paper manufactured for hangings is of High House, Stafford. These aspirational several kinds, some being made in repre- wallpapers reflect the fashion for flocks in the sentation of stucco work for the covering more aristocratic households, but are scaled of ceilings or the sides of halls, staircases, down to suit interiors with more modest passages etc and others in imitation of vel- proportions. Crimson reds, rich greens and vet, damask, brocades, chintz and other dramatic blue backgrounds with darker blue such stuffs as are employed for hanging or black flock were the colours of choice. rooms. The principal difference in the The popularity of flock wallpapers proved manufacture lies however in the grounds, enduring and they continued to be used some of which are laid in varnish and oth- throughout the 19th century and until the ers in the common vehicles of waterco- pared down modernism of the mid 20th cen- lours and the raising of a sort of coloured tury. Today, with the current trend towards embossement of chopped cloth. This ever more flamboyant interiors they are embossed cloth is called flock paper, the enjoying something of a revival. Unsur- art of making which is a very late inven- prisingly, given the quality of materials and tion and is a great improvement on the printing, flock wallpapers survive almost manufacture of paperhangings both with intact in many rooms throughout the country, regard for its beauty and its durability. a testament to the work of both generations of anonymous block carvers and known designers such as Thomas Willament or A. W. N. Pugin FLOCK WALLPAPERS who delighted in rich, embossed gold leaf By the end of the 17th and early 18th cen- grounds and multicoloured flock for buildings tury designs were becoming more ambitious. such as Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, Charlcote Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Henry Stewart Publications Page 152 IP: 185.24.85.49 On: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:40:45 Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications McDermott Figure 1: The Long Gallery at Temple Newsam House, Leeds Park, Warwick, Taymouth Castle, Perth and the country became more wealthy the mar- Kinross, and the Palace of Westminster. ket for wallpapers grew and technological developments in paper-making and machine printing circa 1830/40 enabled a mass pro- DISTEMPER PAPERS duction which embraced bright synthetic Throughout the 18th century, block-printed colours and large and small-scale floral distemper papers were used extensively for designs on a staggering scale. A few iconic less formal rooms, such as bedrooms and pri- designers, such as William Morris, E. W. vate apartments. These were printed using a Godwin and Walter Crane, tried to stem the water-based mixture of animal glue, whiting tide of vulgar mediocrity with exquisite art and/or pigments such as yellow, brown, red wallpapers and a revival of traditional craft- and green ochres, blue and green verditers, printing skills, but these were expensive and carbon blacks and chalk white. Organic pig- appealed mostly to a small audience of the ments, such as indigo, crimson and madder artistic and educated middle and upper had a high tinting strength, giving a showy classes. and theatrical effect best enjoyed by candle- Today, there are very few skilled expo- light. Unfortunately these colours had little nents of the block-printing tradition. These resistance to light and most of the fragments talented specialists recreate wallpapers discovered today give a poor impression of mostly for historic conservation or recon- their original brilliance. For this reason, any struction projects and the effect is strikingly attempt to recreate an original wallpaper different from modern screen-printed or should begin with a thorough analysis of the machine-printed reproductions of the same materials and techniques used to ensure a designs. The pigment for both grounding well-informed reconstruction. and printing is bound in water-based animal Block printing was time consuming and, glue rather than varnish or oil. It is thick, by the 19th century, relatively expensive. As opaque and has a dense and chalky surface Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Henry Stewart Publications IP: 185.24.85.49 On: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:40:45 Page 153 Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications Historic wallpaper During the rage for Chinoiserie during the 18th century there was hardly a house of any significance that did not have at least one room of ‘India Paper’, although it was more usual to have several of these hung en suite in private first-floor apartments, such as bedrooms and boudoirs. One can only imagine the delight of waking in a room filled with an oriental spring of gorgeous and fantastical birds, flowers and trees painted, jewel-like, in the finest and rarest of pigments, such as azurite blue, malachite green and carmine crimson.

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