The fashionable wallpaper in the Rectory
Victorians loved wallpaper. As did the Hobhouse family who lived in the Rectory at The Story of Emily, where many of the rooms are adorned with the fashionable designs of the time.
During the restoration process, when the layers of old paint were stripped, small pieces and fibres of the original wallpaper were found in the Drawing Room, Dining Room and Main Bedroom.
To bring them back to life, our restoration team used the hand block method to replicate the patterns which, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum, is a process whereby a design is engraved onto the surface of a rectangular wooden block.
The block is then inked with paint and placed face down on the paper for printing. Polychrome patterns require the use of several blocks – one for every colour. Each colour is printed separately along the length of the roll, which is then hung up to dry before the next colour can be applied. 'Pitch' pins on the corners of the blocks are used to help the printer accurately line up the design. Requiring considerable skill and patience, this process can take up to 4 weeks, using 30 different blocks and 15 separate colours.
The exhibition in the Butler's Pantry in the Rectory exemplifies one of the hand-made blocks that we used to print wallpaper for the Rectory. Also on exhibit is a replica of an original piece of wallpaper found in the house and a sample of recreated wallpaper, whose design was replicated using the hand block method in the Main Bedroom by experts Allyson McDermott.
Glimpse inside the wardrobe in the Main Bedroom to uncover the original wallpaper preserved in situ.
The Victoria and Albert Museum says in an article on their website that writer and designer William Morris is possibly best known for his wallpaper designs. He was responsible for more than 50 patterns, and his influence on the industry was long-lasting and profound. His work represents a compromise between the conflicting styles of the 1850s and 1860s. Our Rectory was built from 1852 to 1854
Another artist who helped shape the design of Victorian wallpaper was A.W.N. Pugin, the master of the Gothic Revival who mainly worked on ecclesiastical commissions. He was responsible for the early 19th-century interpretation of medieval art and architecture that blossomed into the Gothic Revival. Pugin’s designs inspired some of the curtains in the home, the grand crimson and gold wallpaper design in the Drawing Room and the block-printed green wallpaper in Reginald’s Study.
In the Study you will also find curtains made of Watts and Co Cathedral Green silk damask, designed by architect Sir Ninian Comper. Instead of rope tiebacks, we have gilded disc ‘holdbacks’; a popular Victorian alternative.
The Drawing room has Watts and Co ‘Arabesque’ velvet curtains. The Dining Room’s design was based on evidence of the original, and it is complemented with Watts and Co Dauphine Sap Green silk-cut velvet curtains with fringed festoons.
In the Photography Studio, where there is opportunity to take pictures after dressing up in period clothing, there’s also a piece of Jeffrey and Co, London wallpaper preserved in situ which dates back to 1859.
Looking closely, you will even see wallpaper in the War Rooms.
Sources:
The Victorian Emporium
The Victoria and Albert Museum