Illustration: William Woollams and Co. Block wallpaper design, 1851.
The history of wallpaper design has very often been identified quite clearly with the history of the decorative arts. By its nature, particularly from the nineteenth century onwards, it appeared almost instantaneous compared to many other formats within an interior. Because wallpaper became connected with mass production, new and varied design work appeared on the market with an increasingly rapid turnover. Design styles were not only fashion orientated, but also connected with the different strata of society, along with the differences that became apparent in the nineteenth century between the interior requirements of domestic households, with wallpaper design work appearing to satisfy the perceived tastes of both the male and female dominated areas of the home.
The nineteenth century saw an extensive range of suppliers in both Europe and North America producing decorative pattern work to feed an ever expanding market. Although it is often assumed that wallpaper work in the nineteenth century was over-laden with excessive amounts of pattern and colour, it is sometimes interesting to examine some of the examples that were part of the market and to re-examine our preconceptions, many of which were coloured by ideas concerning the nineteenth century that were promulgated by the twentieth century.
The example shown in this article was produced in 1851 by the company of William Woollams and Co. This block printed design does not have any of the heavy formatting that we often associate with the Victorian era. It is simple, certainly within its colour range and was produced, although not specifically, for a picture hanging room where it would conceivably not clash with any of the compositions hung in front of it. Although not specifically machine produced, other examples similar to this were produced by machine. The common misconception is that machine produced wallpaper design work was both badly designed and of inferior workmanship. While machine produced wallpaper output could not hope to compete with hand production, the quality of pattern work was not always as clear cut as critics of the period would have the public believe. Many of the examples reached the same level of competence as this particular example, although to be fair, many did not.
The fact that this particular wallpaper design was produced at the beginning of a decade that was to see the spectacular rise of mainstream medievalism in the form of the Gothic Revival, is shown perhaps in the choice of pattern format. Perhaps not as obvious or structured as the work of A W N Pugin, it is nonetheless very much in the mould of medieval styling that was considered acceptable for the period. The scroll work could easily have been identified either with ecclesiastical stone work or elaborate door hinges; it could even have been identified with medieval book illustration. The fact that all of these origin points, as well as others, shows how non-specific some of the medieval sourcing for the Gothic Revival really was.
Instigators of specific sourcing for the revival, such as A W N Pugin already mentioned, and that of Owen Jones, wanted deliberate and scholarly investigation into medieval pattern work, specifically the anatomy of the differing decorative styles that went to make up the era. That these investigations could then be used to both help and expand the vocabulary of contemporary nineteenth century pattern work, including that of wallpaper design, was widely expected. However, the interior decoration market has always been led by a largely pragmatic approach to decoration in its broadest sense. No large tomes regarding medieval decoration and ornament were followed by many of the suppliers of the interiors trade, although these were both written and published in large and varied profusion, particularly during the 1850s and 1860s.
Many of the wallpapers produced during this period were given the feel of medievalism without the strict structure of the original source. Many wallpaper suppliers and retailers were well aware that although the Gothic Revival had huge potential for expansion and exploitation, it was also one that had to harmonise with the relative relaxed and casual atmosphere of mid-nineteenth century domestic interiors. In other words, what had originally been produced for medieval ecclesiastical benevolence did not necessarily mean that the same effect was expected in a mid-nineteenth century parlour or library.
To be fair, the original intention of the Gothic Revival had been one that was limited to the ecclesiastical, but as with so much in the region of fashion and taste; it soon escaped and was being both diverted and reimagined for public secular life and the wholly lighter shade of domestic life.
It is interesting to note how many objects from strictly religious backgrounds became available for domestic accessories. The nineteenth century saw a particular penchant for Christian, Islamic and Hindu imagery whereby specific images were either used as decorative resources or were incorporated as loose accessories in the form of intriguing statuary. This theme continues into our own era whereby imagery is still being related to design interiors. However, the sourcing is now even more eclectic than it was perhaps in the nineteenth century, with anything from Ancient Egypt to Buddhism being incorporated into contemporary interiors.
In this respect it is perhaps wise to see the rise of medievalism in the nineteenth century, at least within the context of interiors, as part of the expanding interest in the eclectic. This does not necessarily negate any other factors that could also be incorporated into the rise, from Pugin's religious convictions to that of Jones fascination with the anatomy of decoration. However, there is also nothing against the celebration of decoration for its own sake. Pattern is one of our most ancient expressions and whether it derives from an abstract religious conviction or the observational shape of a flower of leaf, there is no reason why it should not also be celebrated within the context of a Victorian parlour or a contemporary living room of the twenty first century.
Further reading links:
