Cowtan wallpaper order book
Order Book
1836-1841 (made)
1836-1841 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Cowtan & Son was a decorating firm with premises in Oxford Street, London. They supplied wallpapers to clients across Britain. Each order was recorded by date under the customer's name and address, and small samples of the papers purchased (and in some cases also fabrics and trimmings) were pasted in. These volumes comprise a valuable record of what people were actually buying, and shows that many resisted the changing fashions, and ignored the advice of design critics and decorating experts, in favour of the ever-popular bright florals, stripes, 'satins' and trellis patterns.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Cowtan wallpaper order book (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Book containing cuttings of wallpapers and other materials, mostly colour prints from woodblocks, annotated in ink, and pasted into a volume bound in vellum. |
| Brief description | One of twenty-four order books (E.1862 to 1885-1946), containing cuttings of wallpapers and other materials for interior decoration; Bound in vellum; Sold by Cowtan & Sons Ltd., formerly of Oxford Street, London; England; Book for the years 1836-41. |
| Physical description | One of twenty-four order books, containing cuttings of wallpapers and other materials for interior decoration, mostly colour prints from woodblocks, annotated in ink, and pasted into a bound volume; Bound in vellum. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Mr A. L. Cowtan, in memory of his father, Arthur Barnard Cowtan OBE |
| Object history | Sold by Cowtan & Sons Ltd, formerly of Oxford Street, London. Given by Mr A. L. Cowtan in memory of his father, Arthur Barnard Cowtan, OBE. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Cowtan & Son was a decorating firm with premises in Oxford Street, London. They supplied wallpapers to clients across Britain. Each order was recorded by date under the customer's name and address, and small samples of the papers purchased (and in some cases also fabrics and trimmings) were pasted in. These volumes comprise a valuable record of what people were actually buying, and shows that many resisted the changing fashions, and ignored the advice of design critics and decorating experts, in favour of the ever-popular bright florals, stripes, 'satins' and trellis patterns. |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic reference | 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. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1864-1946 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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