Gothic Revival Wallpaper

Illustration: Wallpaper design, 1840s.

This startling Gothic wallpaper design was produced in the 1840s. Today we would find it hard to contemplate living with such a definite design statement on our walls. However, this wallpaper design was produced to make that very statement.

This is a relatively early Gothic Revival design, though not to be confused with the eighteenth century Gothic Revival. Most of the popular inspired wallpapers were about ten years away and so this piece is perhaps more faithful to the original concept of the Victorian Gothic Revival, later designs were softened and the architectural references were relaxed in order to appeal to a larger market.

The design was probably produced for a library, or possibly dining room, two areas of a nineteenth century house that were traditionally considered to be mainly male domains. The statement that the wallpaper was supposed to be making was that the occupier of the house had scholarly leanings and was to be considered to be of a serious, if somewhat traditional intellect. However, as this is such an early wallpaper design in the Gothic style, it should also be seen as to a certain extent cutting edge, if not vaguely revolutionary, in decorative terms at least.

Illustration: Wallpaper design, 1840s.

The Gothic style of decoration was by no means staid and formulaic in the 1840s. It was considered new, bold and daring. The accepted style of the age was still considered to be classically inspired, particularly within interiors. France still set the trends in interior furnishings, but Britain was beginning to flex its newfound economic strength and individuality and wanted an interior style that it could call its own. This inevitably was to be Gothic. A style that was to be a catalyst for more than half a century of British design inspiration that would include within its sphere: William Morris; the Arts & Crafts movement; Liberty; and a whole host of designers that were to inspire and energise individuals and movements around the world.

Further reading links:
The Gothic Revival (World of Art)
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival A&I (Art and Ideas)
The Origins of the Gothic Revival (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in Britis)
Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors: From the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau
Gothic Revival: An Essay in the History of Taste
In Pointed Style: The Gothic Revival in America, 1800-1860
Gothic Style
Victorian Gothic House Style: An Architectural and Interior Design Source Book
A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival
The Gothic Tradition (Cambridge Contexts in Literature)