Period character guide: Wallpaper

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I was off school with mumps and my mother put me to work stripping wallpaper. As an eight-year-old I was fascinated, peeling away layer upon layer, my imagination fired by the assortment of colours and patterns that were revealed. What I failed to appreciate at the time was that this was archaeology of a sort and that each layer could tell me something about the history of our house.

Wallpaper was probably first developed in China around the 3rd century AD but it was not until the 16th century that the first handmade decorated paper appeared in Europe. The oldest known example in Britain dates from 1509 and is in Christ’s College, Cambridge.

Early wallpapers were produced using wooden printing blocks and were generally simple black-onwhite patterns, with the designs frequently imitating more expensive materials such as damask or silk. Although only used in grand houses, wallpaper was the wallcovering of choice by the 18th century. In Georgian times flock wallpaper was highly fashionable and ‘lustre paper’ was produced using powdered paints or glass. Most highly sought after of all were imported hand-painted Chinese papers.

Wallpaper became more widely available and affordable after 1839 when Potters of Darwen, in Lancashire, manufactured the first continuous machine-made wallpaper. Victorian designs were diverse although those of William Morris tend to dominate our perception of the era. Looking around Arts & Crafts houses such as Standen in West Sussex, owned by the National Trust, the freshness of Morris’ colours and patterns is striking.

Preserving an old skill
With a fascinating history stretching back to 1873, Cole & Son is one of the few companies still producing hand-printed wallpapers. Visiting its factory in North London I was astonished to find some of the original machinery still in use. Even more intriguingly, master block printer Ron Faulkner showed me the company’s archive of some 3,000 hand-carved wooden printing blocks, including designs by AW Pugin for the Palace of Westminster. Cole & Son has also provided wallpapers for Buckingham Palace and the White House.

Hand-printing wallpaper takes incredible skill. To ‘lay’ a print, Ron first brushes or ‘tears’ the waterbased ‘colour’ over a spongy blanket before ‘dipping’ the block to pick up the colour. He explained that it is vital that the colour is evenly distributed.

The printing blocks are works of art in themselves. Hand-carved from pear wood they are exceptionally intricate. They are also heavy so are hung by a chain from a counterweight enabling them to be swung easily across to the printing table. Ron brings the front edge of the block down on to the paper first, carefully aligning a metal pin on the block with a pin mark made when he laid the previous print.

As he lowers the back end of the block he checks that the side gauge – a small pin sticking out of the side of the block – is in perfect alignment with the edge of the paper. Once the block is in position, a stirrup-like arrangement called the ‘bridge’ is activated by a foot pedal to apply pressure to the block.

This process is repeated time and again but, in between laying each print, the paper roll is moved forward by the length of one block. The freshly printed paper hangs from ‘sticks’ and Ron deftly moves these along the track above him using a ‘crutch’.

To make up the complete pattern, the process has to be repeated with a different block for each colour. With some patterns having several colours, immense accuracy is needed to ensure every detail is exactly aligned. Ron told me that a skilled block printer can print 15 to 20 rolls a day in one colour. The final step is trimming the edges of the paper – a job requiring great precision to ensure each roll will match perfectly to the next when hung.

Repairs and care
Finding a fragment of old wallpaper is exciting, be it inside a built-in cupboard, behind a skirting board, architrave or dado rail or, as happened to me, beneath layers of later wallpaper. Try to preserve these pieces or take photographs as they form part of the history of the house.

I have managed to ease original paper away from plaster with a flat-bladed knife but, where paper is particularly historic, it is best to consult a specialist conservator. They should be able to date the wallpaper through its pattern, the colours used and the composition of the paper itself.

You can keep pieces you save flat in a stiff backed envelope – it is worth placing them between sheets of acid free paper – or you can frame them and hang them on the wall, away from direct sunlight. An alternative possibility is to have the pattern reproduced by a specialist company. Where you remove a number of layers of different wallpapers, keep them in sequence; looking back through them can be like rewinding the past.

To clean loose dirt from the surface of wallpaper, use a vacuum cleaner on low power with muslin fixed across the nozzle with a rubber band. Do avoid direct contact with the paper’s surface.

ABOVE (L-R): This hand-carved wooden printing block is among some 3,000 in the archive of Cole & Son; Cole & Son is now the only company in the world producing handmade flock wallpaper in the traditional way. The pattern is printed with a slow drying colour and the flock – originally wool but now minute rayon fibres – is sieved on while it is still wet.
BELOW: The ‘Granada’ design by Morris & Co.

Wallpaper choices
Remember that ‘traditional’ collections may bear little relationship to any given period or may be adaptations of original designs. If you are lucky enough to have found original papers in your home, you can use these to guide your choice of pattern, otherwise you may need to do some research.

Many factors contribute to the period feel of wallpaper. For example, block prints have a wonderfully rich surface and a rim around the print created by the ink pressing out from under the block. Wallpaper was generally used in the more important rooms so bear this in mind when buying.

Hanging hand-printed wallpaper requires skill so ensure you employ an experienced decorator and check with the manufacturer what type of paste should be used and how it should be applied.

Word for word: A glossary of wallpaper terms
ANAGLYPTA Patented in 1887, it is similar to lincrusta but is a less durable, lighter weight embossed paper. You can identify it by pressing the raised surface which should compress.
FLOCK Invented in Holland in 1680, it imitates cut and stamped velvet. The pattern is printed with a slow drying colour and the flock (originally wool or silk, now rayon) is sieved on while it is still wet.
LINCRUSTA A high relief wallcovering introduced in 1877 by Frederick Walton. Durable and washable, it was based on a similar formula to linoleum, his previous invention.
PATTERN REPEAT An integral part of the design, it is the vertical distance between one point on the pattern to the identical point vertically.
PIECE A length of wallpaper equivalent to a standard 10.5m role. Early wallpaper was sold in sections about a yard long, which were joined end to end with glue.

The art of the traditional

ABOVE: 1 To ‘lay’ a print, master block printer Ron Faulkner first brushes or ‘tears’ the water-based ‘colour’ over a spongy blanket. 2 After being ‘dipped’ to pick up the colour, the block is hung by a chain to be swung across to the printing table. Ron aligns the front edge of the block with a mark made when he laid the previous print, and with the edge of the paper. 3 Once the block is in position, a stirrup-like arrangement called the ‘bridge’ is activated by a foot pedal to apply pressure to the block.
BELOW: 4 The block is lifted off to reveal the print. 5 The freshly printed paper hangs from ‘sticks’ and Ron moves these along the track above him using a ‘crutch’. 6 The paper is trimmed and the pattern is checked to ensure the edges match.

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WORDS ROGER HUNT PHOTOGRAPHS ROGER HUNT; COLE & SON
Featured in the July 2009 issue of Period Living