Wallpaper

This article is about the material used for interior decoration. For other uses, see Wallpaper (disambiguation).

Hanging a traditional repeat pattern wallpaper

The traditional hand-blocking technique, here in France in 1877

Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, cafes, government buildings, museums, post offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so that it can be painted or used to help cover uneven surfaces and minor wall defects thus giving a better surface), textured (such as Anaglypta), with a regular repeating pattern design, or, much less commonly today, with a single non-repeating large design carried over a set of sheets.

Wallpaper printing techniques include surface printing, gravure printing, silk screen-printing, rotary printing, and digital printing. Wallpaper is made in long rolls, which are hung vertically on a wall. Patterned wallpapers are designed so that the pattern "repeats", and thus pieces cut from the same roll can be hung next to each other so as to continue the pattern without it being easy to see where the join between two pieces occurs. In the case of large complex patterns of images this is normally achieved by starting the second piece halfway into the length of the repeat, so that if the pattern going down the roll repeats after 24 inches the next piece sideways is cut from the roll to begin 12 inches down the pattern from the first. The number of times the pattern repeats horizontally across a roll does not matter for this purpose. A single pattern can be issued in several different colorways.

History

The main historical techniques are: hand-painting, woodblock printing (overall the most common), stencilling, and various types of machine-printing. The first three all date back to before 1700.

Wallpaper, using the printmaking technique of woodcut, gained popularity in Renaissance Europe amongst the emerging gentry. The social elite continued to hang large tapestries on the walls of their homes, as they had in the Middle Ages. These tapestries added color to the room as well as providing an insulating layer between the stone walls and the room, thus retaining heat in the room. However, tapestries were extremely expensive and so only the very rich could afford them. Less well-off members of the elite, unable to buy tapestries due either to prices or wars preventing international trade, turned to wallpaper to brighten up their rooms.

Early wallpaper featured scenes similar to those depicted on tapestries, and large sheets of the paper were sometimes hung loose on the walls, in the style of tapestries, and sometimes pasted as today. Prints were very often pasted to walls, instead of being framed and hung, and the largest sizes of prints, which came in several sheets, were probably mainly intended to be pasted to walls. Some important artists made such pieces - notably Albrecht Dürer, who worked on both large picture prints and also ornament prints - intended for wall-hanging. The largest picture print was The Triumphal Arch commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and completed in 1515. This measured a colossal 3.57 by 2.95 metres, made up of 192 sheets, and was printed in a first edition of 700 copies, intended to be hung in palaces and, in particular, town halls, after hand-coloring.

Very few samples of the earliest repeating pattern wallpapers survive, but there are a large number of old master prints, often in engraving of repeating or repeatable decorative patterns. These are called ornament prints and were intended as models for wallpaper makers, among other uses.

England and France were leaders in European wallpaper manufacturing. Among the earliest known samples is one found on a wall from England and is printed on the back of a London proclamation of 1509. It became very popular in England following Henry VIII's excommunication from the Catholic Church - English aristocrats had always imported tapestries from Flanders and Arras, but Henry VIII's split with the Catholic Church had resulted in a fall in trade with Europe. Without any tapestry manufacturers in England, English gentry and aristocracy alike turned to wallpaper.

During the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell, the manufacture of wallpaper, seen as a frivolous item by the Puritan government, was halted. Following the Restoration of Charles II, wealthy people across England began demanding wallpaper again - Cromwell's regime had imposed a boring culture on people, and following his death, wealthy people began purchasing comfortable domestic items which had been banned under the Puritan state.

18th century

Hand-painted Chinese wallpaper showing a funeral procession, made for the European market, c. 1780

In 1712, during the reign of Queen Anne, a wallpaper tax was introduced which was not abolished until 1836. By the mid-eighteenth century, Britain was the leading wallpaper manufacturer in Europe, exporting vast quantities to Europe in addition to selling on the middle-class British market. However this trade was seriously disrupted in 1755 by the Seven Years' War and later the Napoleonic Wars, and by a heavy level of duty on imports to France.

In 1748 the British Ambassador to Paris decorated his salon with blue flock wallpaper, which then became very fashionable there. In the 1760s the French manufacturer Jean-Baptiste Réveillon hired designers working in silk and tapestry to produce some of the most subtle and luxurious wallpaper ever made. His sky blue wallpaper with fleurs-de-lys was used in 1783 on the first balloons by the Montgolfier brothers. The landscape painter Jean-Baptiste Pillement discovered in 1763 a method to use fast colours.

Hand-blocked wallpapers like these use hand-carved blocks and by the 18th century designs include panoramic views of antique architecture, exotic landscapes and pastoral subjects, as well as repeating patterns of stylized flowers, people and animals.

In 1785 Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf had invented the first machine for printing coloured tints on sheets of wallpaper. In 1799 Louis-Nicolas Robert patented a machine to produce continuous lengths of paper, the forerunner of the Fourdrinier machine. This ability to produce continuous lengths of wallpaper now offered the prospect of novel designs and nice tints being widely displayed in drawing rooms across Europe.

Wallpaper manufacturers active in England in the 18th century included John Baptist Jackson and John Sherringham. Among the firms established in 18th-century America: J. F. Bumstead & Co. (Boston), William Poyntell (Philadelphia), John Rugar (New York).

High-quality wallpaper made in China became available from the later part of the 17th century; this was entirely handpainted and very expensive. It can still be seen in rooms in palaces and grand houses including Nymphenburg Palace, Łazienki Palace, Chatsworth House, Temple Newsam, Broughton Castle, Lissan House, and Erddig. It was made up to 1.2 metres wide. English, French and German manufacturers imitated it, usually beginning with a printed outline which was coloured in by hand, a technique sometimes also used in later Chinese papers.

France and America

Towards the end of the 18th century the fashion for scenic wallpaper revived in both England and France, leading to some enormous panoramas, like the 1804 20 strip wide panorama, Sauvages de la Mer du Pacifique (Savages of the Pacific), designed by the artist Jean-Gabriel Charvet for the French manufacturer Joseph Dufour et Cie showing the Voyages of Captain Cook. This famous so called "papier peint" wallpaper is still in situ in Ham House, Peabody Massachusetts. It was the largest panoramic wallpaper of its time, and marked the burgeoning of a French industry in panoramic wallpapers. Dufour realized almost immediate success from the sale of these papers and enjoyed a lively trade with America. The Neoclassical style currently in favour worked well in houses of the Federal period with Charvet's elegant designs. Like most 18th-century wallpapers, the panorama was designed to be hung above a dado.

'Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique', panels 1-10 of woodblock printed wallpaper designed by Jean-Gabriel Charvet and manufactured by Joseph Dufour

Beside Joseph Dufour et Cie (1797 - c. 1830) other French manufacturers of panoramic scenic and trompe l'œil wallpapers, Zuber et Cie (1797–present) and Arthur et Robert exported their product across Europe and North America. Zuber et Cie's c. 1834 design Views of North America hangs in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.

While Joseph Dufour et Cie was shut down in the 1830s, Zuber et Cie still exists and with Cole & Son of England is one of the last Western producers of woodblock printed wallpapers. For its production Zuber uses woodblocks out of an archive of more than 100,000 cut in the 19th century which are classified as a "Historical Monument". It offers panoramic sceneries such as "Vue de l'Amérique Nord", "Eldorado Hindoustan" or "Isola Bella" and also wallpapers, friezes and ceilings as well as hand-printed furnishing fabrics.

Among the firms begun in France in the 19th century: Desfossé & Karth. In the United States: John Bellrose, Blanchard & Curry, Howell Brothers, Longstreth & Sons, Isaac Pugh in Philadelphia; Bigelow, Hayden & Co. in Massachusetts; Christy & Constant, A. Harwood, R. Prince in New York.

England

"Artichoke" wallpaper by Morris and Co, designed by J H Dearle

During the Napoleonic Wars, trade between Europe and Britain evaporated, resulting in the gradual decline of the wallpaper industry in Britain. However, the end of the war saw a massive demand in Europe for British goods which had been inaccessible during the wars, including cheap, colourful wallpaper. The development of steam-powered printing presses in Britain in 1813 allowed manufacturers to mass-produce wallpaper, reducing its price and so making it affordable to working-class people. Wallpaper enjoyed a huge boom in popularity in the nineteenth century, seen as a cheap and very effective way of brightening up cramped and dark rooms in working-class areas. It became almost the norm in most areas of middle-class homes, but remained relatively little used in public buildings and offices, with patterns generally being avoided in such locations. In the latter half of the century Lincrusta and Anaglypta, not strictly wallpapers, became popular competitors, especially below a dado rail. They could be painted and washed, and were a good deal tougher, though also more expensive.

Wallpaper manufacturing firms established in England in the 19th century included Jeffrey & Co.; Shand Kydd Ltd.; Lightbown, Aspinall & Co.; John Line & Sons; Potter & Co.; Arthur Sanderson & Sons; Townshend & Parker. Designers included Owen Jones, William Morris, and Charles Voysey. In particular, many 19th century designs by Morris and Co and other Arts and Crafts designers remain in production.

20th century

By the early twentieth century, wallpaper had established itself as one of the most popular household items across the Western world. Manufacturers in the USA included Sears; designers included Andy Warhol. Wallpaper has gone in and out of fashion since about 1930, but the overall trend has been for wallpaper-type patterned wallcoverings to lose ground to plain painted walls.

21st century

In the early XXI century wallpaper evolved into a lighting feature, enhancing the mood and the ambience through lights and crystals. Meystyle, London based company, invented LED incorporated wallpaper. The development of digital printing allows designers to break the mould and combine new technology and art to bring wallpaper to a new level of popularity.

Historical collections

Historical examples of wallpaper are preserved by cultural institutions such as the Deutsches Tapetenmuseum (Kassel) in Germany; the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris) and Musée du Papier Peint (Rixheim) in France; the Victoria & Albert in the UK; the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, Historic New England, Metropolitan Museum of Art, U.S. National Park Service, and Winterthur in the USA.

Types and sizes

In terms of methods of creation, wallpaper types include painted wallpaper, hand-printed blockwood wallpaper, hand-printed stencil wallpaper, machine-printed wallpaper, and flock wallpaper.

Modern wallcoverings are diverse, and what is described as wallpaper may no longer actually be made from paper. Two of the most common factory trimmed sizes of wallpaper are referred to as "American" and "European" rolled goods. American rolled goods are 27 inches by 27 feet (8.2 m) in length. European rolled goods are 21.5 inches wide by 33 feet (10 m) in length. Approx. 60 square feet (5.6 m²). Most wallpaper borders are sold by linear foot and with a wide range of widths therefore square footage is not applicable. Although some may require trimming.

The most common wall covering for residential use and generally the most economical is prepasted vinyl coated paper, commonly called "strippable" which can be misleading. Cloth backed vinyl is fairly common and durable. Lighter vinyls are easier to handle and hang. Paper backed vinyls are generally more expensive, significantly more difficult to hang, and can be found in wider untrimmed widths. Foil wallpaper generally has paper backing and can (exceptionally) be up to 36 inches wide, and be very difficult to handle and hang. Textile wallpapers include silks, linens, grass cloths, strings, rattan, and actual impressed leaves. There are acoustical wall carpets to reduce sound. Customized wallcoverings are available at high prices and most often have minimum roll orders.

Solid vinyl with a cloth backing is the most common commercial wallcovering and comes from the factory as untrimmed at 54 inches approximately, to be overlapped and double cut by the installer. This same type can be pre-trimmed at the factory to 27 inches approximately.

Furthermore, wallpaper comes in the form of borders, typically mounted horizontally, and commonly near ceiling level of homes. Borders come in varying widths and patterns.

Modern developments

Custom wallpaper printing

New digital inkjet printing technologies using ultraviolet (UV) cured inks are being used for custom wallpaper production. Very small runs can be made, even a single wall. Photographs or digital art are output onto blank wallpaper material. Typical installations are corporate lobbies, restaurants, athletic facilities, and home interiors. This gives a designer the ability to give a space the exact look and feel desired.

High-tech wallpaper

New types of wallpaper under development or entering the market in the early 21st century include wallpaper that blocks certain mobile phone and WiFi signals, in the interest of privacy. The wallpaper is coated with a silver ink which forms crystals that block outgoing signals.

The Spanish firm Think Big Factory has announced that they are developing a wallpaper which also serves as a computer interface, using projectors, webcams, and motion sensors for control. As of 2013, The hardware was complete but only 20 per cent of the software was finished, according to Think Big Factory.

Seismic wallpaper

In 2012, Scientists at the Institute of Solid Construction and Construction Material Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology announced that they had developed a wallpaper that can help keep a masonry wall from failing in an earthquake. The wallpaper uses glass fibre reinforcement in several directions and a special adhesive which forms a strong bond with the masonry when dry.

Installation

Like paint, wallpaper requires proper surface preparation before application. Additionally wallpaper is not suitable for all areas. For example, bathroom wallpaper may deteriorate rapidly due to excessive steam. Proper preparation includes the repair of any defects in the drywall or plaster and the removal of loose material or old adhesives. For a better finish with thinner papers and poorer quality walls the wall can be cross-lined (horizontally) with lining paper first .Accurate room measurements (length, width, and height) along with number of window and door openings is essential for ordering wallpaper. Large drops, or repeats, in a pattern can be cut and hung more economically by working from alternating rolls of paper.

Besides conventional installation on interior walls and ceilings, wallpapers have been deployed as decorative covering for hatboxes, bandboxes, books, shelves, and window-shades.

Wallpaper adhesives

Main article: Wallpaper adhesive

Most wallpaper adhesive are starch or methylcellulose based.

Removal

Water

The simplest removal option is to brush the paper with water. Water soaks through the paper and saturates the glue, allowing the paper to be peeled off.

This does not work well with non-peelable vinyls, as vinyl is not porous. Nevertheless, it is still effective on many modern papers.

A mixture of 3:1 or 1:1 water and white vinegar is effective at dissolving glues. If the wallpaper is scored or sanded with a 20 grit floor sanding pad to scratch the surface solution, uptake will be more effective.

Chemical wallpaper stripper

Chemical wallpaper stripper can be purchased at most paint or home improvement stores. It is mixed with warm water or a mixture of warm water and vinegar, then sprayed onto wall surfaces. Several applications may be required to saturate the existing wallpaper. Perforation can aid in the absorption of the mixture and lead to faster removal. After the mixture has dissolved the wallpaper paste, the wallpaper can be removed easily by pulling at the edges and with the aid of a putty or drywall knife.

Steam

Another method of removal is to apply steam to wallpaper in order to dissolve the wallpaper paste. A wallpaper steamer consists of a reservoir of water, an electric heating element, and a hose to direct the steam at the wallpaper. The steam dissolves the wallpaper paste, allowing the wallpaper to be peeled off. However, care must be taken to prevent damage to the drywall underneath. Sometimes steaming can lead to the crumbling of underlying drywall or plaster, leaving an uneven surface to be repaired.

See also

• Faux painting
• Mural
• Wall decals
• Wallpaper group

References

• A Hyatt Mayor; Prints and People; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1971 (reprints Princeton).

Further reading

Published in the 20th century

1900s-1920s

•  
• Nancy McClelland. Historic Wall-Papers: From Their Inception to the Introduction of Machinery (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1924)
• A. V. Sugden and J. L. Edmundson: A History of English Wallpaper, 1509–1914 (London, 1925)

1930s-1970s

• E. A. Entwisle: ‘Painted Chinese Wallpapers’, Connoisseur, xciii (1934)
• H. Clouzot and C. Follot: Histoire du papier peint en France (Paris, 1935)
• E. A. Entwisle: The Book of Wallpaper (London, 1954)
• "The Hang of Wallpapering." Popular Mechanics, March 1954, pp. 177–182, the basics.
• E. A. Entwisle: A Literary History of Wallpaper (London, 1960)
• B. Greysmith: Wallpaper (London, 1976)

1980s-1990s

• James Hamm and Patricia D. Hamm, "Historic Wallpaper in the Historic Structure: Factors Influencing Degradation and Stability," Conservation Within Historic Buildings, The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, London (1980).
• O. Nouvel: Wallpapers of France, 1800–1850 (London, 1981)
• C. C. Oman and J. Hamilton: Wallpapers: A History and Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 1982)
• F. Teynac, P. Nolot and J. D. Vivien: Wallpaper: A History (London, 1982)
• J. Hamilton: An Introduction to Wallpaper (London, 1983)
• Bruce Bradbury. A Laymen's Guide to Historic Wallpaper Reproduction (An Overview of Historic and Modern Production Techniques, Some Jargon Unravelled, and Some Tips on Dating Historic Patterns). Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol. 16, No. 1, Decorative Finishes (1984)
• M. Schoeser: Fabrics and Wallpapers: Twentieth Century (London, 1986)
• B. Jacque and O. Nouvel-Kammerer: Le Papier peint décor d’illusion (Barenbach, 1987)
• P. J. Kipp: ‘Wallpaper Conservation’, IADA Preprints, 7th International Congress of Restorers of Graphic Art: Uppsala, 1991
• E. F. Koldeweij, M. J. F. Knuijt and E. G. M. Adriaansz: Achter het behang: 400 jaar wanddecoratie in het Nederlandse binnenhuis (Amsterdam, 1991)
• R. C. Nylander: Wallpapers for Historic Buildings (Washington, DC, 1992)
• London Wallpapers: Their Manufacture and Use, 1690–1840 (exh. cat. by T. Rosaman, London, RIBA, 1992)
• L. Hoskins, ed.: The Papered Wall (London, 1994)
• Kosuda-Warner, Joanne, Kitsch to Corbusier: Wallpapers from the 1950s (exhibition catalogue) Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York, 1995

Published in the 21st century

• O. Nouvel: French Scenic Wallpaper, 1790–1865 (Paris, 2000)
• J. Kosuda-Warner and E. Johnson: Landscape Wallcoverings (London, 2001)
• L. Jackson: Twentieth-century Pattern Design: Textile & Wallpaper Pioneers (New York, 2002)
• G. Saunders: Wallpaper in Interior Decoration (London, 2002)
• On the Wall: Contemporary Wallpaper (exh. cat. by J. Tannenbaum and M. B. Stroud, Providence, RI, Sch. Des., Mus. A., 2003)
• L. Lencek and G. Bosker: Off the Wall: Wonderful Wall Coverings of the Twentieth Century (San Francisco, 2004)
• L. Hoskins: The Papered Wall: The History, Patterns and Techniques of Wallpaper (London, 2005)
• B. Jacque and others: ‘Wallpaper in the Royal Apartments at the Tuileries, 1789–1792’, Stud. Dec. A., xiii/1 (Fall–Winter 2005–6)