PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Historic types of wallpaper and decorative schemes of interiors
Similarly to common wallpapers, panoramic wallpapers
were printed by using woodblocks. Since multiple colours needed
to be used and no motifs were repeated, the number of blocks
could reach hundreds or even thousands.
Depending on the expectation of the owners and the properties
of a room, panoramic wallpapers could be hung in various
ways. First of all, if it was important to emphasize the narrative
property of the wallpaper, an attempt was made to hang it
continuously, as much as the windows and doors allowed. Secondly,
a wallpaper was split into separate scenes. Manufacturers
created such features as rocks and trees, which were used to
separate various episodes of the story. (Fig. 25) If only certain
scenes were to be hung, such compositions could be sacrificed.
And, finally, only separate lengths of the whole wallpaper might
be hung as paintings. In the case of the latter two options, the
separate scenes were framed and emphasized by additional
friezes, borders, pilasters and dados. If these weren’t already
present, wallpaper manufacturers offered a large variety of
architectural elements printed on paper.
Besides depictions of exotic lands and cultures, inspired
by the drawings of travelling artists, panoramic wallpapers
presented such themes as cities and parks, mythological subjects,
scenes from contemporary literature 109 and historic events, for
example Napoleonic campaigns, which were recommended for
public interiors. (Fig. 26) Among higher educated social classes,
such wallpapers were seen as ways to entertain, educate and
stimulate the imagination.
In contrast to the aforementioned sophisticated settings of
papier en feuille and print rooms, a type of industrial decoration
known as decór-complets was developed to meet the expectations
of the growing middle class. After Neo-Classicism had
passed out of fashion at the beginning of the 1830s, manufacturers
were inspired by the rich vocabulary of ornaments and
historic decoration. Fashionable wall covers of the 1840s were
strongly influenced by the Rococo, Renaissance and Moorish
109
Saunders, Wallpaper in Interior Decoration, 89.
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