PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Preservation of wallpaper as a part of interiors
Free-text documentation is more suitable for large objects,
in which check-list documentation does not allow for the recording
of all relevant information. Check-list documentation, on
the other hand, is appropriate to document a large number
of museum objects, for example numerous wallpaper fragments.
To record all the details of a historic wallpaper and its conservation
project, a conservator should not be limited to using
either free-text or check-list documentations, but rather should
use a combination of both. Some of the properties which need
to be recorded include:
Chronological order of the particular interior layer
Width of the wallpaper proof if known or the size of
the paper sheet
Width of the wallpaper proof joint
Characteristics of the paper (e.g. cast or manufactured,
and tone)
Colours of ornaments, and the amount of colour
Location where the wallpaper sample was found
Exact site from which the sample was taken
(shown on a plan). 311
To show the advantages of this approach, the author has compiled
a case study in the form of a free-text description and a
check-list of two objects conserved during the course of the
study. The objects are the wallpapers from the dining-room of
the Puurmani manor and Estonian Literary Museum.
The check-list form used to document the objects was compiled
to record the properties characteristic to a wallpaper preserved
in situ. The ideas described by Christine Woods led to the
use of the following four documentation forms: the Winterthur
311
Laura Lūse, “Wallpaper Through the Ages from the Collection of the Architectural
Investigation Group: a Brief History from the 18th to the 20th Century” in Architectural
Finishes in the Built Environment, ed. Mary A. Jablonski and Catherine R. Matsen
(London: Archetype Publications, 2009), 138.
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