PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Methods of wallpaper production and mounting
Prior to printing, a strip of paper was rolled onto a 10-meterlong
table. Engraved printing blocks were used to deposit glue on
the surface of the paper. Before the adhesive dried, the strip of
paper was placed in a long case, the bottom of which was made
of soft calf skin. With the help of a sieve, the fine milled and coloured
wool fibres were spread all over the adhered surface. The
lid of the case was closed and two rods were used to beat the calf
skin underneath. A “cloud” of woollen dust spread throughout
the case and settled on sticky attached areas, forming a layer of
flock. (Fig. 70) Freshly flocked wallpapers were dried vertically,
after which loose woollen dust was carefully brushed off the
paper. Other treatments, such as adding another flocked layer
or overprinting with a distemper in lighter or darker shades,
may have followed. (Fig. 71)
In the second half of the 19th century, it became possible
to produce flocked wallpapers with simple patterns industrially.
The paper was attached with the help of a stencil cut out of
parchment. After the freshly attached paper had passed through
a “cloud” of textile fibres and had dried, it was cleaned of loose
material with soft brushes.
During the 1880s, a very special type of flocked wallpaper,
known as cheviot 189 , was developed. Instead of powdered wool
or silk, hairs were attached to the paper base. The appearance
and design of such wallpapers resembled long-haired oriental
rugs. Cheviot wallpapers were extremely heavy and expensive
products, which most commonly were used in masculine interiors,
such as smoking and billiard rooms.
In the 19th century, the effect of luxurious flock wallpapers
was imitated by the use of powdered dry colour instead of fabric
shearings. Such wallpapers were known as “mock-flock” or
“counterfeit flock”. 190
2.2.4. Surface printing
Surface printing was the first mechanized process for producing
wallpapers. Its introduction is connected with a technique
189
Luthmer, Werkbuch des Dekorateurs, 76.
190
Hoskins, Glossary, 267.
118