PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Preservation of wallpaper as a part of interiors
shoji system is suitable for rooms where big shifts in relative
humidity are expected and is an optimal solution for dealing
with the stretching and shrinking of wallpaper.
The base of the system is formed by light and stable wooden
grids or frames, which are easy to mount and dismount. Since they
are most commonly made of spruce, using the services of a skilled
carpenter is highly recommended. A description of the preparation
of a five-layer shoji frame is given in the article Der Blaue Salon
im Schloss Schönbrunn – zur Restaurierung und klimagerechten
Montage chinesischer Tapeten, by Karin Troschke (1994).
The system consists of stretched and loose layers, which
are pasted over each other. While preparing the frames, it is
important to pay attention to both the front and back sides of
the frame. The latter needs to be covered with as many stretched
layers as the front side to keep the frame straight. The frames
are mounted onto a system of laths attached to the wall. After
the frames are lifted to the laths, they can be moved to the left
or right to the chosen location on the wall.
With the help of the shoji system, remounting and dismounting
large format wallpapers has become easy and safe. Besides
using it in a historic interior, the system can be used in a gallery
of a museum. It is a method that offers an improved alternative
to traditional frames covered with canvas. However, using canvas
as a lining should definitely not be excluded as an option.
Although wallpaper is rarely mounted onto canvas lining nowadays,
objects that have preserved their original mounting systems
and are in stable condition should be kept as they are.
The choice of the mounting system depends on the condition
of the object and the environment in which the wallpapers are
going to be exhibited. In the case of the thin and fragile Chinese
wallpapers from the Esterházy Palace, the shoji system seemed
to be the best solution, since the wallpapers were sensitive to
movement and dimensional changes in the lining system. (Fig.
100) The shoji system was implemented by using wheat starch
paste in various concentrations. The same adhesive was used
to apply the Chinese wallpapers to the shoji frame. Using the
previously implemented method would have resulted in the
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