PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Historic types of wallpaper and decorative schemes of interiors
some earlier examples showed extensive use of wood-block printing
for outlines, and a few later examples had carved outlines, 67
which were filled in by hand. One could find several wallpaper
panels with the same scene, but with a slightly different
in-painting. Rooms mounted with silk and paper wall covers
were decorated with Asian and chinoiserie furniture and porcelain
objects to emphasize their oriental ambience. 68
Chinoiserie rooms, where Chinese wall covers were used, were
often set up in summer residences of European aristocracy. 69 The
inspiration for such rooms didn’t come directly from original Chinese
interiors, but rather from European descriptions and interpretations
of Chinese culture, architecture and everyday life. 70
Chinese papers appear to have been used particularly in
the apartments of aristocratic women, especially in private
rooms. They were most commonly used in intimate rooms, such
as dressing rooms, bedrooms and salons. However, a dressing
room was seldom decorated separately. It formed a part of a suite
of rooms, including the bedchamber. These rooms were much
less private in 18th-century houses than they are today, and the
use of Chinese papers in such situations does not indicate that
they were solely for private pleasure rather than for a display
of fashionable taste. 71 Such wallpapers were not used only by
women; they could also be used by men, whose motivations for
using the exotic wall covers might have been different. 72
Because of their high cost, the use of Chinese wall covers had
a special meaning. They were commonly acquired for a special
family event and marked certain key points in life, for example
marriage, a rise in social status or the visit of an important
person. 73 Thus Chinese wallpapers can be seen as reflecting a
certain attitude or message the owners wanted to transmit to
67
Saunders, Wallpaper in Interior Decoration, 63.
68
Gunther Berger, Chinoiserien in Österreich-Ungarn. (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
GmbH Europäischer Verlagder Wissenschaften, 1995), 164.
69
Astrid Wehser, Anna Wilhelmine von Anhalt und Ihr Schloss in Mosigkau. Idee und
Gestaltung eines Gesamtkunstwerks (Kiel: Verlag Ludwig, Peter-Hirschfeld-Stiftung,
2010), 142.
70
Ibid., 144.
71
Saunders, Wallpaper in Interior Decoration, 65.
72
Taylor, Chinese Papers and English Imitations..., 39.
73
Ibid., 49.
44