PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Historic types of wallpaper and decorative schemes of interiors
decorative elements, manufacturers produced dados, uprights,
borders and friezes in roll form. 92 The main sources of inspiration
were the depictions of Roman monuments and wall paintings
found in Pompeii and Herculaneum. A customer who was not too
keen on Etruscan terracotta colouring could choose the same figures
in white on a black background, combined with a verdigris
frame. 93
Similarly to rooms decorated with plain paper, papier en
feuille settings were complemented by vibrant and richly decorated
borders, which framed the panels and the cut-out decorations.
(Fig. 14, Fig. 15)
The period of using papier en feuille was from the 1750s
until approximately 1800. From the lack of later invoices and
depictions of interiors, it is clear that the fashion was no longer
in vogue after the turn of the century. One of the reasons that
papier en feuille lost its popularity was a new type of product,
décor-complets, which similarly to the former one, employed
various architectural ornaments.
The vogue of papier en feuille was replaced by a certain type
of decoration known as arabesque wallpapers. The main
influence for arabesque patterns came from the vast choice
of published graphic works and drawings depicting antique
Roman ornaments, seen first in the fantastic wall paintings
preserved, for example, in the Golden House of Nero, Hadrian’s
Villa and the paintings in the Loggia of the Vatican painted
by Raffael.
The wallpapers were produced as separate panneaux,
which were commonly about two meters high, but had different
widths. The decoration of arabesque panels was developed
symmetrically around a central axis, and was comprised of
scrolling leaves, flowers, branches and palm-fronds, lambrequins,
animals, human figures, vases, fragments of architecture,
92
Bernard Jacqué,“Luxury Perfected: The Ascendancy of French Wallpaper 1770–1870”
in The Papered Wall. The History, Patterns and Techniques of Wallpaper, ed. Lesley
Hoskins (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2005), 72.
93
Ursula Sjöberg, “Adam Petter Holmberg and the Etruscan Style” in New Discoveries.
New Research. Papers From The International Wallpaper Conference at the Nordiska
Museet, ed. Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark. Nordiska Museet Förlag (2009), 31.
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