Papering Over History Wallpapers past and present Brian Roche with Historic New England 1750-1780 Importing a fashionable commodity Before 1750, few colonists in New England could afford to decorate their homes with wallpaper (or “painted paper” as it was called in the eighteenth century, a translation of the French term papier peint), and surviving examples from this period are rare. Wealthy urban colonists could purchase “painted paper” from stationers, booksellers and as a custom order from merchants who specialized in imported luxury goods. Wallpaper was an expensive decorative material, yet it was created as an affordable alternative to more costly wall coverings. By the mid-eighteenth century, floral patterns based on more common textile designs, such as brocades and cotton chintzes, had come to dominate the market. In contrast to the brightly colored flocked and floral patterned wallpapers, New Englanders frequently selected classical architectural pillar-and-arch designs printed en grisaille (in shades of grey) to decorate the stair halls and formal parlors of their elegant homes. These grand spaces could easily accommodate the large repeat of the patterns (some measure almost 48 inches high) and when installed would create a double-tiered colonnade across the wall. The example from the late 1700s shows a Pillar and Arch wallpaper with floral swags and a flower-filled urn and columns with Corinthian capitals. Pillar and Arch papers were used primarily in entryways, stairways and formal parlors. Block printed in brown, white and black on a grey ground and stenciled in brown, the maker of this paper unknown. 1780-1815 Increasing imports and the rise of American manufacturing American independence and the ability to trade freely led to a dramatic increase Page 34 ■ Antiques Journal ■ September 2010 in imported French wallpapers. In 1787, the French eliminated export duties on wallpaper and thereby lowered the cost of purchasing this luxury item. Cost was not the only factor that contributed to the increased use of French papers in New England. French wallpaper firms produced the highest quality and most artfully designed wallpapers of this period. Manufacturers like Jean-Baptiste Reveillon (1725-1811) refined the process of printing with wooden blocks and distemper paints, and raised wallpaper manufacturing to new artistic heights. He created a vast workshop of over 300 craftsmen and divided the labor into specific and repetitive tasks. Early American wallpaper manufacturers The years following the Revolution