Wallpaper - High-end design at discount prices

Pierre Deux, F. Schumacher, Farrow & Ball,
Lee Jofa, Clarence House,
Osborne & Little, Nina Campbell and many more...

The Short History of Wallpaper

The history of decorating walls dates back to Egypt and Rome, where wall painting began. Many centuries later, in order to gain addition insulation in places in cooler climates, people used fabric to cover walls and windows to keep drafts out. In the homes of the well-to-do, these fabrics were elaborate, resplendent tapestries, which also adorned the walls of European palaces and castles. They were not only practical, but decorative.

Wallpaper began as low cost substitute for tapestry and paneling. According to historians, the use of wallpaper dates back to the 1400s. Early wallpapers were used to decorate wood panels, introduced into England by Flemish craftsmen. The wallpapers were small squares with images printed by wood blocks, which were then colored in by hand. As the desire increased to find a less expensive alternatives to the wall-hangings of the rich, printers produced simple yet decorative wallpaper panels.

The earliest known wallpaper in England dates back to 1509 — an Italian-inspired woodcut pomegranate design printed on the back of a proclamation issued by Henry VIII. Discovered in 1911 at Christ’s College in Cambridge, the paper is attributed to Hugo Goes, a York printer.

At first, wallpaper appeared in minor rooms while fabric continued to be used in the major ones. Use of wallpaper became so widespread that it inspired the introduction of a tax in England by 1712 on paper that was “painted, printed or stained to serve as hangings”. However, by 1806, falsification of wallpaper stamps was added to the list of offenses punishable by death. To deal with the tax, English manufacturers sought to increase sales by catering to the mass market. They simplified their designs. This allowed the French to maintain their firm grip on the finer, more complicated designs.

The french took over the industry in terms of design innovation and quality. Royalty paid designers well and French nobility paid special commissions for custom papers. One manufacturer deserves special mention, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, who became a “Manufacture Royale” for wallpapers in France. For some years before the French Revolution, his factory in Paris produced the finest and most beautiful wallpapers for the French aristocracy. It was attacked by the angry mob in 1789 and Réveillon fled to England.

English wallpaper returned to the scene with the repeal of wallpaper taxation in 1836. The repeal of the wallpaper tax encouraged English designers in England to produce very complex designs that became popular in the Victorian era. And a breakthrough in production, credited to a calico printing firm, Potters of Darwen in Lancashire, England, adapted a printing machine for wallpaper, patented in 1839. Wallpaper was now applied directly to plaster. As production increased, wallpaper prices were discounted, and more and more people were able to buy it for their homes. Wallpaper suitable for a child’s nursery appeared. In the Victorian era, front halls boasted bright colors that often included wallpaper.