PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Methodological conclusions
briefly discussed to complement the chosen research objects.
The chosen wallpapers were produced from the middle of the
18th until the beginning of the 20th century. They include various
wallpaper types and wall decoration schemes, all of which
were preserved in one or another way as part of interiors.
The oldest of the eight objects were two chinoiserie wall
covers from the Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt. They date back
to the middle of the 18th century and were integrated into two
Rococo wall schemes.
The six remaining objects exemplify the versatility of wallpapers
and decoration schemes characteristic to historicist rooms
in the first and second half of the 19th century. The objects were
in various stages of decay, and involved a variety of conservation
problems, aims and possible concepts in the preservation
of wallpapers in interiors.
Two of the objects had survived intact. One of them was conserved
in situ and the other one in a workshop as a dismounted
object. The wallpaper from the Estonian Literary Museum was
preserved in situ. It represents a type of wallpaper typical of a
lady’s boudoir in the second half of the 19th century. Another
object that had survived intact was the wallpaper from the Theodor
Aman Museum in Bucharest. It was returned to its original
location after it had been removed and conserved by a local
conservator. The object was a fine example of an embossed wall
cover that imitated gilt-leather and was highly popular in the
second half of the 19th century.
Only fragments of the other four wallpapers had survived.
Three of them were discovered in a small private castle, the
Freyschlössl in Salzburg, Austria, and one in the dining room
of the Puurmani manor in Estonia. The conservation methods
used varied depending on the stage of decay and the amount of
available material revealing the original appearance.
All of the conservation projects had three common tasks:
firstly, to improve the physical condition of a wallpaper and
preserve a unity of appearance, secondly, to preserve and
emphasize the values attributed to it and, thirdly, to ensure its
preservation in an interior. The concepts depended on various
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