PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Discussing principles of conservation
Thirdly, the complete decoration is not on the wall, and the
condition of a wallpaper is poor. The original paper is thus not
used in the reconstruction project but is completely reproduced. 297
The extent and character of a reproduction not only depend on
the amount of preserved evidence, but also on the type of wall
cover. Reconstructing wallpapers with a non-repeating depiction,
for instance panoramics, arabesque panels, decór, papier en feuille
and Chinese wallpapers, is questionable. It should be considered
only if another copy of the same wallpaper is found.
Of the aforementioned wall covers, finding a copy is most
likely in the case of panoramic wallpapers and arabesque panels,
which both have been well researched and documented.
A copy might be found in one of the multiple wallpaper reference
collections in Europe or the United States, for example in
the Deutsches Tapetenmuseum in Kassel, Musée du Papier Peint
in Rixheim, Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, Museum
of Domestic Art and Architecture (MoDa) in London, Cooper-
Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution in
New York or in several other collections. If a copy is not found,
the object might be presented in its original condition instead,
or combined with archaeological reconstruction.
Settings of décor, papier en feuille, print-rooms and Chinese
wallpapers have been created from numerous separate parts
and are thus non-recurring. In the opinion of the author, such
wall schemes cannot be reconstructed, but rather must be recreated
according to available analogues and descriptions.
Different techniques can be used to reproduce wallpapers, e.g.
block-printing, screen-printing, lino-cut or digital printing. Before
ordering a reproduction, one should be aware of the appearance
created by certain techniques: screen-printing produces flat, but
graphically accurate results, block-printing replicates a high relief
typical to hand-printed wallpapers, and digital printing can imitate
the effect of printing from engraved or surface-print rollers. 298
297
Ibidem.
298
Anthony Wells-Cole, “Wallpapers and the Restoration of Temple Newsam House” in
New Discoveries, New Research. Papers from the International Wallpaper Conference
at the Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, 2007, ed. Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark (Stockholm:
Nordiska Museet Förlag, 2009), 69.
158