PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Historic types of wallpaper and decorative schemes of interiors
The era known as the Age of Enlightenment brought with it
a need to consolidate the nation and state. An effort was made
to define them through local history and traditions. In social
practice, this led to idealizing and adapting historic architectural
styles to currently prevailing tastes.
In the discourse of the history of interior design, the decades
after the 1830s are called historicist. The origins of architectural
historicism lie in romanticism, in which an interest in the Middle
Ages and the Antique was prominent. However, historicist
solutions did not copy historic styles; rather, they attempted to
give a certain meaning and function to each style.
People who had gained sudden wealth had a chance to “collect”
a style of their own, which had previously been the privilege
of the elite of society. Modern rooms, whether created in one
certain historic style or several styles, were mixed together in
an eclectic composition. Although the history of historicist interiors
can be divided into periods according to the dominance
of certain design principles or historical styles, stylistic preferences
were different in various countries.
For example, a deepened interest in Neo-Gothic patterns in
England was brought about by books written by Walter Scott.
(Fig. 29) The design of modern patterns was mostly influenced
by romantic depictions of ruins and picturesque landscapes.
Renaissance patterns, on the other hand, were influenced by
authentic motifs from tapestries and textiles of the Renaissance
style. The former were favoured within traditionally masculine
settings, such as libraries and dining rooms, while the latter –
which included complex pilaster-and-panel decorations – were
reserved for more formal areas, such as drawing rooms. 113
Another masculine room that gained importance by the end
of the 19th century was the smoking room. It was used by gentlemen
who retired after dinner from the company of women
to a drawing room or salon. The decoration of smoking rooms
was most commonly influenced by the Orient and the use of
113
Joanna Banham, “The English Response: Mechanization and Design Reform” in
The Papered Wall. The History, Patterns and Techniques of Wallpaper, ed. Lesley
Hoskins (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2005), 138.
66