St James's
Wallpaper
1881 (printed and published)
1881 (printed and published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Specimen of 'St James's' wallpaper, a pattern of intertwined foliage and white flowers, on a red ground; Block printed in distemper colours, on paper.
Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover.
Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | St James's (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | block printed in distemper colours, on paper |
| Brief description | Specimen of 'St James's' wallpaper, a pattern of intertwined foliage and white flowers, on a red ground; Block printed in distemper colours, on paper; Designed by William Morris for the Grand Staircase in St James's Palace; Printed by Jeffrey & Co. for Morris & Co.; Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover; England; 1881. |
| Physical description | Specimen of 'St James's' wallpaper, a pattern of intertwined foliage and white flowers, on a red ground; Block printed in distemper colours, on paper. Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover. |
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'THESE PAPERS ARE PRINTED BY HAND /
Hand or Block-printed Papers and Machine-printed Papers. /
MORRIS AND COMPANY are often asked "What is the advantage of hand-printed papers over those printed by machine?" /
HAND-PRINTED PAPERS are produced very slowly, each block used being dipped into pigment and then firmly pressed on to the paper, giving a great body of colour. This process takes place with each separate colour, which is slowly dried before another is applied. The consequence is that in the finished paper there is a considerable mass of solid colour. /
MACHINE-PRINTED PAPERS are produced at a great speed, all the colours being printed at one time and rapidly dried in a heated gallery. In consequence of the speed at which they are printed, there is merely a film of colour deposited on the surface of the paper. /
FOR PERMANENT USE we strongly recommend the hand-printed paper. /
The machine-printed papers are placed at the end of one of the books or in a msall book by themselves. /
Show Rooms: /
449, Oxford Street, London, W.' (Printed on cover sheet of stand-book.) |
| Credit line | Given by Shand Kydd Ltd |
| Object history | 'St James's' was designed for the Grand Staircase in St James's Palace. The decorative scheme for the palace was begun in 1866 and was Morris & Co.'s first secular commission. 'Two widths of paper are needed to complete the pattern horizontally, while the vertical repeat of 119.4 cm requires two blocks to print each colour. Sixty-eight blocks are needed to complete the pattern. The cutting and printing must have been a gigantic task, carried out at speed. Only four months separated the approval of the plan and its completion. The blocks were destroyed in a fire at Jeffrey’s on 22 November 1881. The printing for the Palace was complete by this time but the blocks were recut for future use.' (Linda Parry, see Bibliographic References) |
| Production | Part of a pattern book of wallpapers containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980) from 1880-1917. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2862-1980 |
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| Record created | June 23, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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