Wallpaper
ca. 1853 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
In Britain, paper printed with patterns has been used for decorating walls since the 16th century. By the late 19th century wallpapers were widely used by all classes, both in homes and in public buildings.
Social Class
In the 1850s wallpapers with pictorial patterns seem to have been very popular and were sold in large quantities. However, art educators such as Richard Redgrave and Henry Cole considered such papers to be examples of bad design because they gave the illusion of three dimensions on a flat wall surface. But despite these faults there were some critics, such as a writer in the trade journal The Builder (1851), who believed that pictorial wallpapers were suitable for 'the houses of the humbler classes of society', especially if the subject depicted was educational. Most papers of this kind have not survived, but it is likely that they were used to decorate social spaces such as railway station waiting rooms, cheap hotels or public bars.
In Britain, paper printed with patterns has been used for decorating walls since the 16th century. By the late 19th century wallpapers were widely used by all classes, both in homes and in public buildings.
Social Class
In the 1850s wallpapers with pictorial patterns seem to have been very popular and were sold in large quantities. However, art educators such as Richard Redgrave and Henry Cole considered such papers to be examples of bad design because they gave the illusion of three dimensions on a flat wall surface. But despite these faults there were some critics, such as a writer in the trade journal The Builder (1851), who believed that pictorial wallpapers were suitable for 'the houses of the humbler classes of society', especially if the subject depicted was educational. Most papers of this kind have not survived, but it is likely that they were used to decorate social spaces such as railway station waiting rooms, cheap hotels or public bars.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Colour woodblock print, possibly with some machine printing, on paper |
| Brief description | Sample of pictorial wallpaper with perspective representations of architecture; Colour woodblock print, possibly with some machine printing, on paper; Used to demonstrate 'False Principles of Decoration' at the Museum of Ornamental Art, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London; English; ca. 1853. |
| Physical description | Sample of pictorial wallpaper with perspective representations of architecture; Colour woodblock print, possibly with some machine printing, on paper. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | FALSE PRINCIPLES / [A]RCHITECTURE (Labelled on front, top left corner, of wallpaper.) |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
Sixteen wallpaper samples in a 'variety of miserable patterns' were included in the selection of False Principles. They were intended to demonstrate patterns which were too bright, repetitive and naturalistic to work suitably as wallpaper. In this example the repetition and three dimensional nature of the pattern horrified Cole.(2010) |
| Object history | This wallpaper was used to demonstrate 'False Principles of Decoration' at the Museum of Ornamental Art, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London. It is listed in the catalogue of the Marlborough House collection, issued by the Department of Science and Art, 1853. No. 36. Objects in high relief; perspective representation of architecture employed as decoration for a flat surface. (as listed in Accession Register). |
| Production | This is a sample of wallpaper that was used to demonstrate 'False Principles of Decoration' at the Museum of Ornamental Art, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London. It is listed in the catalogue of the Marlborough House collection, issued by the Department of Science and Art, 1853. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type In Britain, paper printed with patterns has been used for decorating walls since the 16th century. By the late 19th century wallpapers were widely used by all classes, both in homes and in public buildings. Social Class In the 1850s wallpapers with pictorial patterns seem to have been very popular and were sold in large quantities. However, art educators such as Richard Redgrave and Henry Cole considered such papers to be examples of bad design because they gave the illusion of three dimensions on a flat wall surface. But despite these faults there were some critics, such as a writer in the trade journal The Builder (1851), who believed that pictorial wallpapers were suitable for 'the houses of the humbler classes of society', especially if the subject depicted was educational. Most papers of this kind have not survived, but it is likely that they were used to decorate social spaces such as railway station waiting rooms, cheap hotels or public bars. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.562-1980 |
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| Record created | January 12, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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