Wallpaper Design thumbnail 1
Wallpaper Design thumbnail 2
On loan
  • On short term loan out for exhibition

Wallpaper Design

1891 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Designers like William Morris, Walter Crane and the young Charles Voysey were working at the forefront of design in the late 1880s and 1890s. They considered flat stylised patterns, of the kind seen in this design, more suitable for decorating walls than figurative or naturalistic patterns with shadows and the illusion of depth. This was because they thought that figurative subjects, or those which imitated reality by using perspective and shading, were creating a false impression on a flat surface. The majority of consumers, however, favoured the more traditional styles which were also for sale during this period.

This is a design for intended for both a wallpaper and a textile. The wallpaper manufacturers Essex & Co.bought this design as it is, but the firm of Newman, Smith & Newman, who printed cotton textiles, bought the same design without the bird.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pencil, black chalk and watercolour, on paper
Brief description
Design by C. F. A. Voysey for a wallpaper and textile showing plants and bird, 1891
Physical description
Design (unfinished) for a wallpaper and a textile showing a repeating pattern of birds perched amongst plants. The pattern is a half drop repeat with a horizontal mirror arrangement. Only the central pattern unit is coloured in watercolour. The bird is blue, the large leaves above its head are green and the large flower is yellow. The rest of the pattern is in pencil or black charcoal and in some parts the pattern is merely suggested; Pencil, black chalk and watercolour, on paper.
Dimensions
  • Height: 59.9cm
  • Width: 54cm
Height 24 inches, Width 21.25 inches
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Sold to Essex / & to Newman without bird / April 1891' (Textual information; On bottom border beneath design; Handwriting; Pencil)
  • 'Bird blue / Tree green / flower , yellow / underprint / green & yellow.' (Textual information; On bottom border beneath design)
Credit line
Given by C.F.A Voysey by request of the Museum
Production
Attribution note: The inscription 'Sold ... & to Newman without bird' on the design refers to the firm of Newman, Smith & Newman, cotton printers who evidently did not require the bird in the design
Subjects depicted
Summary
Designers like William Morris, Walter Crane and the young Charles Voysey were working at the forefront of design in the late 1880s and 1890s. They considered flat stylised patterns, of the kind seen in this design, more suitable for decorating walls than figurative or naturalistic patterns with shadows and the illusion of depth. This was because they thought that figurative subjects, or those which imitated reality by using perspective and shading, were creating a false impression on a flat surface. The majority of consumers, however, favoured the more traditional styles which were also for sale during this period.

This is a design for intended for both a wallpaper and a textile. The wallpaper manufacturers Essex & Co.bought this design as it is, but the firm of Newman, Smith & Newman, who printed cotton textiles, bought the same design without the bird.
Bibliographic references
  • Oman, Charles and Hamilton, Jean. Wallpapers: A History and Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Sothebys in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982. 435 p. ill. ISBN 0856670960.
  • John Murdoch and Susan Lambert, Summary Catalogue of Textile Designs 1840-1985 in the V. & A. Museum and colour microfiche, Surrey: Emmett Microform, 1986
Collection
Accession number
E.267-1913

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Record createdOctober 13, 2003
Record URL
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