131 What Was Victorian Wallpaper Made Of

Victorian wallpaper wallcoverings in the past walls were decorated in some fashion usually by painting directly upon the plaster.

What was victorian wallpaper made of. Though it was in the victorian era that the wallpapers were developed it was not until the 1920s that the wallpapers were at its peak of popularity. The victorian era 1837 1901 was a period of transformation. The wallpaper was made up of 12 sheets of hand made paper pasted together to make strips long enough to go from the top to the bottom of the wall.

Usually a blank margin was left along both edges of the paper to protect the paper from damage during transportation which was trimmed off before the paper was hung. However during the last few years of the victorian revival immense importance was given on the reproduction of genuine period wallpaper patterns that could be used in reinstalled designs. Flock wallpapers were made with powdered wool a waste product of the woollen industry which was shaken over a fabric prepared with a design printed in varnish or size a substance similar to glue.

He turned to a commercial company barrett of bethnal green which made the first blocks for him in the traditional way from pearwood. Later tapestries silk and paneling took the place of this fresco work and in the homes of the wealthy giving a beautiful decorative background for the architectural finish and detail of the other furnishings. Historical revivals an anti industrial return to nature futurism and oriental exoticism all coexisted in the public imagination and were often found in enthusiastic if not startling.

Between 1864 and 1867 for his early wallpapers such as the trellis fruit and pacquerette he experimented with printing them with blocks of zinc but decided that this was too complex and took too long.