Wallpaper thumbnail 1
Wallpaper thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 52, The George Levy Gallery

Wallpaper

1720-1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This wallpaper panel is one of a pair. The panel was produced in China for export to Europe. The design, which stretches across this piece and its pair, is a park-like scene with Chinese figures and buildings.

Trading
Painted wallpaper panels of this type have few obvious antecendents in the native Chinese tradition of interior design. Their manufacture was the result of partnerships between Chinese and European commercial entrepreneurs. The widespread availability of Chinese goods in Britain, particularly from the early 18th century, signalled an episode of enormously profitable commerce for merchants of the East India Company as well as for successive Chinese emperors, whose officials closely supervised the trade. Some made vast fortunes through trading these and other such commodities.

Materials & Making
Papers like these were manufactured in the port city of Guangzhou (Canton), a major centre for the production of trade items. There are similarities in colour and design between different kinds of export commodity, and it seems likely that craftsmen who painted paper panels also turned their hand to painting silk, another European favourite. While most of these Chinese wallpapers were painted freehand, this particular panel had the outlines of the design block printed in black before being painted in watercolours.

Ownership & Use
Having first reached Europe in the 1690s, Chinese wallpapers were popular in Britain throughout the Georgian period. Entire Chinese palaces as well as individual Chinese rooms were constructed in Europe, papers like this playing a prominent part in their decoration. A complete set of panels, anything between 25 and 40 rolls, must have been difficult to put up because of the sequence that had to be observed. They were not pasted straight onto the walls but were mounted onto stretched canvas and nailed up. This allowed the owners of these expensive commodities to move and reuse them at will. High-impact wallpapers have remained a lively presence in interior design to this day. Historic pieces are being conserved and copied and used in new settings.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Paper, block-printed in black and painted in watercolour
Brief description
Wallpaper, two pieces, depicting scenes of everyday life, Guangzhou, China, 1720-50
Physical description
On an ivory-coloured background is painted buildings and people in a landscape.
Dimensions
  • Height: 286cm
  • Width: 174cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 03/04/2000 by RK Dimensions checked: Measured; 14/02/2020 by HZ The measurements of the entire panel supporting both E.412-1924 and E.413-1924. (14/02/2020 HZ)
Marks and inscriptions
These two panels were originally pasted to a screen
Gallery label
British Galleries: Chinese wallpapers with continuous scenes of daily life are rarer than those showing bird and plant life. This one is unusual, as the outlines are printed. Usually, Chinese wallpapers were entirely painted by hand, making them expensive in Europe.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Given by Maj. E. R. Trevor Corbett
Object history
Made in Canton (now Guangzhou), China for export to Europe
Summary
Object Type
This wallpaper panel is one of a pair. The panel was produced in China for export to Europe. The design, which stretches across this piece and its pair, is a park-like scene with Chinese figures and buildings.

Trading
Painted wallpaper panels of this type have few obvious antecendents in the native Chinese tradition of interior design. Their manufacture was the result of partnerships between Chinese and European commercial entrepreneurs. The widespread availability of Chinese goods in Britain, particularly from the early 18th century, signalled an episode of enormously profitable commerce for merchants of the East India Company as well as for successive Chinese emperors, whose officials closely supervised the trade. Some made vast fortunes through trading these and other such commodities.

Materials & Making
Papers like these were manufactured in the port city of Guangzhou (Canton), a major centre for the production of trade items. There are similarities in colour and design between different kinds of export commodity, and it seems likely that craftsmen who painted paper panels also turned their hand to painting silk, another European favourite. While most of these Chinese wallpapers were painted freehand, this particular panel had the outlines of the design block printed in black before being painted in watercolours.

Ownership & Use
Having first reached Europe in the 1690s, Chinese wallpapers were popular in Britain throughout the Georgian period. Entire Chinese palaces as well as individual Chinese rooms were constructed in Europe, papers like this playing a prominent part in their decoration. A complete set of panels, anything between 25 and 40 rolls, must have been difficult to put up because of the sequence that had to be observed. They were not pasted straight onto the walls but were mounted onto stretched canvas and nailed up. This allowed the owners of these expensive commodities to move and reuse them at will. High-impact wallpapers have remained a lively presence in interior design to this day. Historic pieces are being conserved and copied and used in new settings.
Collection
Accession number
E.413-1924

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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