PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Task of conservation. Case studies
It is one of the most beautiful Neo-Renaissance palaces
in Estonia, with its symmetrical facade structured by round
arched windows and intermediate cornices dividing the facade
into horizontal spaces. Most of the indoor facilities were either
oil-painted or papered. 401 Halls and other official rooms were
decorated with complex combinations of elements from several
historical styles (Renaissance, Rococo and Neo-Classicism): panelling
with garlands and portrait medallions, fluted columns,
and strictly symmetrical ceiling rosettes combining bouquets
and vases. There are examples of high quality carpentry, such as
doors embellished with torches and laurel wreaths, decorative
consoles, cornices and a coffered ceiling in the dining-room. 402
After expropriation in 1919, the main building of the manor has
been used as a school since 1926. 403 Nowadays, the Puurmani
404 405
Secondary School is located in the building.
5.1.2. Situation preceding conservation
During the research on the decorative layers, multiple wallpaper
fragments were found on the first and second floors of
the manor. Over ten wallpapers were found under the baseboards
and behind window hatches. The earliest wallpapers
dated to the beginning of the 1880s, when the building gained
its current form.
The most interesting of all the fragments was found in
the former study of Count von Manteuffel, where a wallpaper
depicting a pattern inspired by American Indians was found.
(Fig. 106) Besides multiple fragments, five wallpapers and two
borders were found that had survived more or less intact under
wooden panelling in four rooms. They were found in the dining
room, entrance hall, former bedroom (Fig. 107) and dressing
room of Countess von Manteuffel.
401
Ibidem.
402
Olev Suuder, “Puurmani mõis” in Eesti arhitektuur 4. Tartumaa, Jõgevamaa, Valgamaa,
Võrumaa, Põlvamaa, ed. Villem Raam (Tallinn: Valgus, 1999), 104.
403
Hein, Eesti mõisad, 71.
404
Puurmani Gümnaasium, accessed December 17, 2012, http://www.puurmani.edu.ee/.
405
Kultuurimälestiste Riiklik Register, Puurmani mõisa peahoone (Mälestise number
23988), accessed May 25, 2013, http://register.muinas.ee/?menuID=monument&action=
view&id=23988.
220