PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Historic types of wallpaper and decorative schemes of interiors
the lower half of the wall, and the upper half was covered with
a light wallpaper depicting luxuriant acanthus leaves, pearl
necklaces and bouquets. (Fig. 45) Secondly, plain papers were
integrated into tripartite schemes, in which they were used to
frame a wallpaper segment on all four sides. (Fig. 46)
The Empire style reached Estonia and the other Baltic states
probably via Berlin at the beginning of the 19th century. 142 Several
Neo-Classical architectural elements, such as porticos, portals,
pillars and frontons, were introduced into the local architecture
and interior design. The strict hierarchy of the rooms
started to change bit by bit: private rooms were separated from
public areas and the enfilade system was used only in public
areas. The tones used in Empire-style rooms were rather pale,
combinations of pink, yellow, grey and white. 143
Although as mentioned above it was not recommended to
paper big festive rooms, a certain type of wallpaper, the panoramic
wallpaper, was especially meant to embellish large
spaces. Thus these wallpapers were used to decorate the walls
of conservatories, dining rooms, billiard rooms and other large
public rooms in wealthy households. In Estonia, only two panoramic
wallpapers have been found so far.
A panoramic wallpaper called “Don Quixote” (produced by
Jacquemart & Bénard, first drafts in 1819 144 ) was found in the
festive hall of the Lohu manor. (Fig. 47) It had been purchased
at an auction in 1825, when the manor was owned by Lieutenant
Gotthard August von Helffreich.
Before the wallpaper was applied, the walls had been covered
by an allegorical wall painting by the German etcher and landscape
painter Christian Gottlieb Welté. It seems that the wallpaper was
used as an easy and fast means of redecorating the room.
The wallpapers were removed and conserved in Moscow in
the 1960s by J. A. Kossikova, M. P. Filatova and J. M. Tarassova. 145
142
Kodres, Ilus maja, kaunis ruum, 137.
143
Maiste, Eestimaa mõisad, 237.
144
Odile Nouvel-Kammerer, French Scenic Wallpapers 1795–1865 (Paris: Flammarion,
2000), 266–267.
145
“Lohu Manor”, Vikipeedia, accessed June 21, 2013,
http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohu_m%C3%B5is.
86