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Wallpaper
unknown - Enlarge image
Wallpaper
- Place of origin:
Guangzhou, China (made)
- Date:
1725-1750 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour on paper
- Credit Line:
Given by HM Commissioners of Woods, Forest and Land Revenue
- Museum number:
E.2083-1914
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 52d, case 4
Object Type
This panel of wallpaper is one of a set datable to between 1725 and 1750. The decorative motifs of flowering trees, insects and colourful birds, hand painted in watercolours, was a favourite theme on such Chinese papers.
People
The enduring popularity of Chinese wallpapers is proved by the existence of firms specialising in re-hanging the wallpapers, such as Messrs Cowan & Sons Ltd.
Trade
Tea, raw silk and porcelain were the commodities which made up the bulk of the trade from China at the time this wallpaper was produced. The officers of the East India Company, who conducted the trade, were also allowed to profit from private trading, which included wallpaper. This is how such wallpapers would have reached Britain.
Materials & Making
In order for the paper to form a continuous scene around a room, the separate sheets sent from China had to be hung in sequence. The design went across the joins and some surviving unused rolls have Chinese numbers on them to indicate their position.
