Not currently on display at the V&A

Wallpaper

ca. 1734 (produced)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of several flock papers hung at Clandon Park in the 1730s; it comes from the south-east side bedroom. This kind of small-scale, informal asymmetric pattern was considered most appropriate for private apartments such as bedrooms and dressing-rooms, in contrast to the more formal decoration found in rooms used for entertaining guests. Flock wallpaper has powdered wool appplied to areas of the pattern to give a textured effect that resembles cut velvet. In this case it is the black areas of the design that have been flocked. It is very rare to find samples of the same paper surviving in more than one location, but in this instance the same pattern has been found in Suffolk at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Print from woodblock and stencil (?), with flock, on stained paper
Brief description
Torn portion (three sheets joined) of wallpaper with a baroque floral pattern, printed in blue with black flock on a yellow ground; Print from woodblock and stencil (?), with flock, on stained paper; Provenance: Clandon Park, Surrey. English, ca. 1734.
Physical description
Torn portion (three sheets joined) of wallpaper with a baroque floral pattern, printed in blue with black flock on a yellow ground; Print from woodblock and stencil (?), with flock, on stained paper.
Dimensions
  • Torn height: 42cm
  • Torn width: 127cm
Dimensions from: 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.
Style
Credit line
Given by Mr John B. Fowler
Object history
Given by Mr John B. Fowler.

Provenance: The south-east side bedroom, Clandon Park, Surrey.
Production
Provenance: The south-east side bedroom, Clandon Park, Surrey.
Clandon Park, which was built circa 1735, belongs to the National Trust.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is one of several flock papers hung at Clandon Park in the 1730s; it comes from the south-east side bedroom. This kind of small-scale, informal asymmetric pattern was considered most appropriate for private apartments such as bedrooms and dressing-rooms, in contrast to the more formal decoration found in rooms used for entertaining guests. Flock wallpaper has powdered wool appplied to areas of the pattern to give a textured effect that resembles cut velvet. In this case it is the black areas of the design that have been flocked. It is very rare to find samples of the same paper surviving in more than one location, but in this instance the same pattern has been found in Suffolk at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich.
Bibliographic references
  • Gill Saunders. Wallpaper in Interior Decoration. V&A Publications, London, 2002. pp.56-7, pl.47
  • 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. p.104, cat. no.58
Collection
Accession number
E.31-1971

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Record createdDecember 13, 2002
Record URL
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