wallpaper

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Image shows wallpaper pattern composed of crystal structures colored in blue and green against a white background. Please scroll down for further information on this object.
New Designs for the Atomic Age
In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. This mid-century design of crystalline structures takes on the appearance of falling snowflakes, with the varying scale of the crystals giving the design some dimension. The design is fresh and still appears modern today with its strong...
Image shows a wallpaper with a parquet floor pattern, composed of woodgrained squares or tiles. Please scroll down for additional information on this object.
Mid-century Woodgrain Wallpaper
This design copies the look of parquet flooring. Being in the Walcrest line of the Stamford Wallpaper Company, the design is machine-printed with engraved rollers using oil-based inks. This is the same printing technique used to make the first wipeable wallpapers in the 1870s. This differs from standard machine prints where printing rollers use a...
Image features a relief wallpaper with appliqued cut paper rectangles, each printed with words from Shakespeare. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
More Shakespeare Please
This design may look familiar to some of you. A similar piece, In the White Room, was created by the same designer and contains a similar construction. In the White Room has been a very popular piece, having been exhibited twice at Cooper Hewitt, and reproduced in numerous publications and blogs. White Room with Text...
Image shows a wallpaper with cubist-inspired still-life images. Please scroll down for additional information on this object.
Can It Be Cubist?
The origins of this unique sample of wallpaper are unknown although it was most likely produced in France or Austria in the 1920s. Paul Frankl, prominent early modernist designer in the United States, gifted the wallpaper sample to Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt in 1930. The wallpaper is remarkable for being Cubist in style. The use...
Image shows a deep red wallpaper design with medallions on a patterned background. Please scroll down for additional information on this object.
Wallpaper, It’s Good for Your Health!
Pattern, color, scale, and repetition are important aspects when considering a wallpaper design for one’s home. The large, dark-red, asymmetrical medallions, set within light pink vining foliage unintentionally form a design of diamond shapes across the paper. Smaller foliate medallions in lighter shades of pink recede, while the darker larger medallions seem to move forward....
Image shows wallpaper with trompe l'oeil design of Gothic architecture. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Gothic Revival Wallpaper
A striking Gothic Revival wallpaper with a fairly large repeat, made possible by the woodblock printing. Inspired by Gothic cathedral architecture this design contains two different views: one showing a very deep perspective looking through a chamber with vaulted ceilings, into another with columns, and arched windows and doors, while the other view is a...
Image shows striped wallpaper design with attached lithograph of room interior. Please scroll down to read the blog post this object.
Sample Books Offer Clues to Decor Trends
Wallpaper sample books are one of the lesser known areas of the Wallcoverings department. While sample books can vary greatly in quality and size, each has a story to tell, offering insights into period color trends and wall treatments. The earliest surviving American sample book was produced by the Janes & Bolles Company, in business...
Image features a wallpaper pattern of pharmaceuticals, appearing like the Physician's Desk Reference. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
A Pill By Any Other Name…
Wallpaper is available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with a design, color, or texture to suit every taste. Leave it to Damien Hirst to throw some kinks into this usually conservative medium. This pharmaceutical design is an unusual theme for wallpaper but was very on-point for the restaurant for which it was...
Image shows a wallpaper containing a gold heart within a fetterlock or shackle, surrounded by entwined ropes and the initials L and M. Please scroll down for further information on this object.
A.W.N. Pugin Design for Lee Castle
This is another wallpaper design by A.W.N. Pugin in the museum collection. Pugin began designing wallpapers in the early 1840s, and was the most prolific wallpaper designer of the 19th century, designing more patterns than even William Morris. He created a number of private commissions for large country houses, as well as papers for more general...