Wallpaper

1877 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type

In Britain paper printed or painted with patterns has been used for decorating walls since the 16th century. By the late 1860s it had become fashionable to divide the walls into three sections, and to use different but complementary wallpaper patterns for each section. This panel was made for display purposes and has all three patterns printed as one piece.

Ownership & Use

Wallpaper decorations of this kind were first described by Charles Eastlake in his guide to home decorating Hints on Household Taste, which was first published in 1868. He approved of them because he thought that having only one pattern on the wall could be monotonous. By the 1880s this style of decorating was commonplace. In their advertisements Jeffrey & Co. offered a great variety of designs for dado, filling and frieze suitable for private residences.

Design & Designing

The dado was the bottom section of the wall, below the chair rail; the filling was the deepest section, between the chair rail and the picture rail; above this was the narrowest band, the frieze. Paintings were hung from the picture rail, with the filling as their background, so this was generally the simplest and most restrained pattern of the three. In 1886 a writer in the Journal of Decorative Art set out the basic principles for designing such papers. He said, 'The frieze should be light and lively; richer colours should be employed than in the filling, and it should be as striking to the eye as the dado'.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Colour woodblock print and flock, on paper
Brief description
Panel of wallpaper with a frieze of apples and butterflies at the top, a filling of bay leaf and a dado of trellis and fan shapes; Colour woodblock print and flock, on paper; Designed by Bruce James Talbert; Produced by Jeffrey & Co.; England; 1877.
Physical description
Panel of wallpaper with a frieze of apples and butterflies at the top, a filling of bay leaf and a dado of trellis and fan shapes; Colour woodblock print and flock, on paper.
Dimensions
  • Height: 152.4cm
  • Width: 52.7cm
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.
Gallery label
(28/11/2006)
British Galleries:
By 1880 it was very fashionable to decorate walls in three horizontal sections (frieze, filling and dado). Although this specimen panel was printed as one piece, usually the three parts would be produced as separate papers. They were combined according to the choice of the customer or decorator.
Credit line
Given by the Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd.
Object history
Given by the Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd.
Production
The filling is the same as in object E.1882-1934 which was exhibited at the International Exhibition, Paris
Subjects depicted
Summary
Object Type

In Britain paper printed or painted with patterns has been used for decorating walls since the 16th century. By the late 1860s it had become fashionable to divide the walls into three sections, and to use different but complementary wallpaper patterns for each section. This panel was made for display purposes and has all three patterns printed as one piece.

Ownership & Use

Wallpaper decorations of this kind were first described by Charles Eastlake in his guide to home decorating Hints on Household Taste, which was first published in 1868. He approved of them because he thought that having only one pattern on the wall could be monotonous. By the 1880s this style of decorating was commonplace. In their advertisements Jeffrey & Co. offered a great variety of designs for dado, filling and frieze suitable for private residences.

Design & Designing

The dado was the bottom section of the wall, below the chair rail; the filling was the deepest section, between the chair rail and the picture rail; above this was the narrowest band, the frieze. Paintings were hung from the picture rail, with the filling as their background, so this was generally the simplest and most restrained pattern of the three. In 1886 a writer in the Journal of Decorative Art set out the basic principles for designing such papers. He said, 'The frieze should be light and lively; richer colours should be employed than in the filling, and it should be as striking to the eye as the dado'.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • 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.
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design & Department of Paintings Accessions 1934 London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1935
Collection
Accession number
E.1842-1934

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Record createdJune 28, 2006
Record URL
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