PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Historic types of wallpaper and decorative schemes of interiors
abandoned for simpler interior decoration. The main focus was
on the walls, which gave rooms a more intimate appearance. In
the wall decoration, features typical of Rococo, such as continuous
panelling, a vertical emphasis and low relief, remained in
use. Walls were divided horizontally by low dados and classic
cornices or entablatures as transitions to ceilings. Wider and narrower
panels, filled with textile, tapestry or wallpaper, divided
the wall above the dado and emphasised the vertical character
of the wall. Since it was believed that the art of antiquity was
white, the colour scheme used in Neo-Classicist rooms was rather
pale, employing mainly pastel tones, such as light yellow, blue,
green and of course white. (Fig. 11)
It was common to treat walls with plain colours: to paint or
cover them with monochromatic wallpapers or “plain papers”.
Such decoration helped to create a peaceful atmosphere and was
frequently used as a background for framed drawings and graphic
works. The most common and desired tones on the market were
verditer blue 84 and greens, but a wide range of other colours
was available as well. 85 The cleanliness and intensity of the tones
depended on the printing methods and materials used: dyes and
inks, which varied depending on the time and location of production.
Highly valued blue plain papers were produced using distinct
pigments: azurite, its synthetic replacement toxic blue verditer,
copper carbonate 86 and Prussian blue .
87
In comparison to azurite,
blue verditer was a readily available and cheap pigment.
The primary aim of plain papers was to bring colour into
a room, especially to picture galleries and living rooms, to
provide a complementary background for architectural fittings,
furniture, 88 art works and other mobilia. (Fig. 12)
84
In French vert de terre, which literally means green of earth. Verditer is one of two
pigments, called blue verditer and green verditer. They are made by treating copper
nitrate with calcium carbonate, in the form of lime, whiting or chalk. They consists of
hydrated copper carbonates analoguos of the minerals azurite and malachite.
Verditer, seadict.com, accessed June 1, 2013, http://www.seadict.com/en/en/verditer.
85
Frangiamore, Wallpapers in Historic Preservation, 21.
86
Tatyana Bayerova, “Farbenchemie für Restauratoren”, Conservation Department,
University of Applied Arts Vienna, Unpublished manuscript, 2010.
87
Elsbeth Geldhof, “Hope in Haarlem: the Welgelegen Pavilion” in The Wallpaper History
Review (2008), 7.
88
Judith Miller, The Style Sourcebook : The Definitive Illustrated Directory of Fabrics,
Paints, Wallpaper, Tiles, Flooring (New York: Abrams, 1998), 198.
47