The use of common, mundane materials creates a contemporary rendering of a traditional pattern in this wallpaper. “Barbed Wire” creates a window pane plaid design by the crossing of wires at right angles. The plaid design, a common wallpaper motif with collection examples dating back to the early nineteenth century, has been interpreted in a...

This charming pattern of kites seems like a perfect selection for a spring day. This pattern is one of many in a sample book also containing designs by Ilonka Karasz, Marion Dorn, Lanette Scheeline, and Zue Martin. Designed by William Justema the pattern is a collage of newspaper, fabric and metallic gold accents. The butterfly...

This is an interesting paper reproducing images of game birds from John James Audubon’s Birds of America. Originally created in watercolors by Audubon between 1827-1838, Katzenbach has faithfully reproduced the images as lithographs to accurately capture the softness and texture of the watercolor pigments. The selected birds include, from top to bottom: the White-fronted goose,...

For all you big spenders out there, money might not grow on trees but there was a time when you could head over to your local wallpaper store and purchase some large bills. Humorously titled Alimony this design is composed of over scaled United States currency in denominations of one, two, five, ten, and twenty...

The museum recently acquired a group of four wallpapers designed by John Rombola. Rombola has a unique drawing style and his designs are whimsical, a mix of naïve and fantastical, with a brilliant use of color and pattern. His use of pattern to define and give substance to his characters is part of his signature...

I always get a kick out of this wallpaper with its humor, its play on traditional design, and its spunk. Who would have thought the lowly meatball could be elevated to star status on a wallpaper? It’s unexpected to find a meatball slapped on a wall, outside of a food fight, and rather a new...

Many of you have probably read my earlier blogs on bandboxes so I won’t elaborate on their purpose. They were originally designed to store and transport men’s removable collar bands, hence the name, but they were also used for hats and as general carry-all’s. Many boxes in the 1830s and 40s commemorated historic events of...

At first glance this wallpaper may appear to be a fragment but it is exactly one repeat of the pattern. Designed by Edward Bawden in 1927, Seaweed is a casual, very relaxed design. You can just imagine the different strands of seaweed gently swaying in the water’s current. Bawden was a watercolorist, book illustrator, mural...

Imitation leather papers meticulously reproduce the grain, patterns, and coloring of antique leathers. While these wallpapers were expensive to produce due to all the handwork necessary to capture the embossed leathers, they were much less costly, and quicker to produce, than actual leathers. This sample was produced by M. H. Birge & Sons around 1910,...