In the last 20 years of the 19th century it became fashionable in interior decoration to divide the wall into three sections: the dado which ran around the room from the skirting up to a height of 3 or 4 feet, then the filling which was an all-over repeating pattern and above this, a frieze on the upper part of the wall up to the ceiling or cornice (a moulding between wall and ceiling). Like this example, the frieze often had a bold pattern.
William Shand Kydd (1864-1936) had worked for the wallpaper manufacturer Hayward & Son before setting up his own wallpaper business in London in 1891. In the early years he designed most of the papers himself. They were highly praised at the time for their originality, confident design, and beautiful colouring. The company became very successful and supplied papers to the most fashionable London furnishing shops.
This frieze was produced by printing the outlines of the pattern from a carved wood block, and then filling in the colour using stencils. Stencils had been used to apply colour to wallpapers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In the 1880s it was reintroduced to commercial wallpaper production by Hayward & Sons. Shand Kydd learned the technique when he worked for the company and went on to use it for many of the wallpapers and friezes produced by his own firm.
Physical description
Portion of 'The Atmy' wallpaper frieze, showing a bold design of large yellow acanthus leaves extending up from the bottom and interlinking with each other. There is some green infill shading showing between the leaves and some stalks and seed pods(?). Along the top is a secondary design of foliage in green, with oranges (which are also coloured a darker green), both foliage and oranges are outlined in orange. A yellow border runs across top and bottom edged in orange. The background is white; Colour print from wood blocks and stencil on paper.
Place of Origin
London, England (printed)
Date
1896-1905 (made)
Artist/maker
Kydd, William Shand, born 1864 - died 1936 (designer)
Shand Kydd Ltd. (manufacturer)
Materials and Techniques
Colour print from wood blocks and stencil on paper
Dimensions
Height: 77.9 cm, Width: 106.5 cm
Object history note
Given by Shand Kydd Ltd.
Designed by William Shand Kydd (born in Edinburgh, 1864, died in London, 1936) and printed by his firm in London.
Descriptive line
Portion of 'The Atmy' wallpaper frieze, showing a bold design of large yellow acanthus leaves extending up from the bottom and interlinking with each other; Colour print from wood blocks and stencil on paper; Design by William Shand Kydd; Produced by Shand Kydd Ltd; London, England; 1895-1905.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Oman, Charles C., and Hamilton, Jean. Wallpapers: a history and illustrated catalogue of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Sotheby Publications, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982.
The full text of the entry is as follows:
'1033
Six portions of papers and friezes
Produced by Shand Kydd Ltd
1895-1905
Stencil
Various sizes
E.1524-1528, 1534-1954; E.1524 neg GJ.9616 CT 8485; E.1527 neg GJ.9617; E.1528 neg GJ.9618
E.1524 ('Ravenna'), E.1525 ('The Arum') and E.1528 ('The Atmy') were exhibited in Victorian and Edwardian Decorative Arts, VAM, 1952 (SE, pl 195). Three other samples of 'Ravenna' in different colourways are E.1040-1042-1970. E.1526 ('Lytham') is an embossed paper; E.1527 ('Roma') is a frieze printed on Japanese grass-paper. 'Atmy' and 'Ravenna' were first produced in 1896.
Sugden, A. V., and Edmondson, J. L. A History of English Wallpaper. 1509-1914. London, 1926.
pl 195.
Exhibition History
Victorian and Edwardian Decorative Arts (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1952-31/12/1952)
Labels and date
British Galleries:
William Shand Kydd set up his own wallpaper business in London in 1891. This became one of the most successful commercial wallpaper firms supplying Arts and Crafts wallpapers to shops such as Liberty's and Maples. Their friezes, for use on the upper part of the wall, were very popular. They were block-printed with delicate stencilled shading. [15/01/2001]
Production Note
'The Atmy' was first produced in 1896.
Reason For Production: Retail
Materials
Paper
Techniques
Block printing; Stencilling
Subjects depicted
Foliage; Acanthus; Oranges; Pods
Categories
Prints; Wall coverings
Production Type
Mass produced
Collection code
PDP
