PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
The wall-papers reproduced in the following plates were in many cases faded, water-stained and torn, when photographed. Many of the photographs are amateur work; some are badly focused and composed, some taken in small rooms and under unfavorable conditions of light. The reader will bear this in mind in judging the papers themselves and the present reproductions.
Plate VII.
The Bayeux Tapestry.
The oldest tapestry now in existence, dating from the time of William the Conqueror, and apparently of English workmanship. The set of pieces fits the nave of the Cathedral of Bayeux, measuring 231 feet long and 20 inches wide. Now preserved in the Bayeux Library.
The subjects are drawn from English history; Plate VII represents the burial of Edward the Confessor in the Church of St. Peter, Westminster Abbey.
Plate VIII.
The Bayeux Tapestry.
King Harold listening to news of the preparations of William of Orange for the invasion of Britain.
Plate IX.
Borden Hall Paper.
The oldest wall-paper known in England; found in restoring a fifteenth-century timber-built house known as "Borden Hall," in Borden village, Kent, near Sittingbourne.
Design "A" was found in the oldest part of the house, and probably dates from the second half of the sixteenth century. The paper is thick and tough, and was nailed to the plaster between uprights. The walls were afterward battened over the paper, and the recovered fragments are in perfect condition. Ground color rich vermillion, with flowers in bright turquoise blue, the design in black.
Plate X.
Borden Hall Paper.
Old English paper, design "B"; found in rear part of house and dates from about 1650. It was pasted to the plaster in the modern manner. Printed in black on a white ground, flowers roughly colored vermillion. Inferior to "A" in design, coloring, and quality of paper.
Plate XI.
Early English Pictorial Paper
Late eighteenth century hunting scene paper from an old Manor House near Chester, England. Reproduced from a fragment in the collection of Mr. Edward T. Cockcroft of New York City. The pattern is evidently repeated at intervals.
Plate XII.
The Cultivation of Tea.
Hand-painted Chinese paper, imported about 1750 and still in good state of preservation; the property of Mr. Theodore P. Burgess of Dedham, Mass. The subject is perhaps the oldest theme used in wall-paper decoration in China.
Plate XIII.
The Cultivation of Tea.
Paper on another side of room shown in Plate XII.
Plate XIV.
The Cultivation of Tea.
Third side of same room. The scene continues round the room without repetition.
Plate XV.
Early American Fresco.
Painted river scenes on the best chamber walls of the house of Mrs. William Allen at Westwood, Mass. The elm and locust trees and architectural style are plainly American, but the geographical location is uncertain. The colors are very brilliant—red, blue, green, etc.
Plate XVI.
Early American Fresco.
Another side of same room, showing conventionalized water fall and bend in the river.
Plate XVII.
Early American Fresco.
Another view of the painted walls at Westwood, Mass. The object depicted is neither a whale nor a torpedo-boat, but an island.
Plate XVIII.
Early American Fresco.
Painted hall and stairway in an old house in High Street, Salem, Mass., attached to the very old bake-shop of Pease and Price. The frescoes were executed by a Frenchman. Colors are still quite bright, but a good photograph could not be secured in the small and dimly-lighted hall.
Plate XIX.
Early Stencilled Paper.
Fragments of very old paper from Nantucket, R. I.
Plate XX.
A Peep at the Moon.
Another quaint stencilled paper found at Nantucket, R. I.
Plate XXI.
Pictured Ruins and Decorative Designs.
Hall of a homestead at Salem, Massachusetts, old when gas lights were introduced in Salem. The paper was undoubtedly made to fit the stairway and hall. The large picture in the lower hall is repeated at the landing.
Plate XXII.
Hand Colored Paper with Repeated Pattern.
Parlor in the home of Mrs. Russell Jarvis at Claremont, New Hampshire. The paper is hand-printed on cream ground in snuff-brown color, and is made up of pieces eighteen inches square, showing three alternating pastoral scenes. In the frieze and dado the prevailing color is dark blue. (p.56)
Plate XXIII.
Scenes from Nature in Repeated Design.
Parlor of the Lindell house at Salem, Massachusetts. White wainscoting and mantel surmounted by paper in squares, showing four outdoor scenes. The fire-board concealing the unused fire-place is covered with paper and border specially adapted to that purpose.
Plate XXIV.
The Alhambra.
Two scenes from the Alhambra Palace, repeated in somewhat monotonous rows. Still in a good state of preservation on the upper hall of a house at Leicester, Massachusetts,—one of the sea-port towns rich in foreign novelties brought home by sea captains.
Plate XXV.
Cathedral Porch and Shrine in Repeated Design.
Effectively colored paper still on the walls at Ware, Massachusetts, showing a shrine in the porch of a cathedral; the repeated design being connected with columns, winding stairs and ruins. The blue sky seen through the marble arches contrasts finely with the green foliage.
Plate XXVI.
Cathedral Porch and Shrine, Architectural Background.
Paper on a chamber in the mansion of Governor Gore of Massachusetts, at Waltham, Massachusetts, erected and decorated in 1802. Medallion pictures in neutral colors, of a cathedral porch, shrine and mountain view, alternating on a stone-wall ground.
Plate XXVII.
Birds of Paradise and Peacocks.
The drawing-room of the Governor Gore Mansion at Waltham, Massachusetts, bequeathed by its owner, Miss Walker, to the Episcopal Church for the Bishop's residence. The paper is still in beautiful condition, printed on brownish cream ground in the natural colors of birds and foliage. (p.75)
Plate XXVIII.
Sacred to Washington.
Memorial paper in black and gray placed on many walls soon after the death of Washington. The example photographed was on a hall and stairway. (p.88)
Plate XXIX.
Dorothy Quincy Wedding Paper.
On the Dorothy Quincy house on Hancock Street, at Quincy, Mass., now the headquarters of the Colonial Dames of Massachusetts. It was imported from Paris in honor of the marriage of Dorothy Quincy and John Hancock in 1775, and still hangs on the walls of the large north parlor. Venus and Cupid are printed in blue, the floral decorations in red. The colors are still unfaded. (p.65)
Plate XXX.
The Pantheon.
Mounted fragments rescued from the destruction of the dining-room paper which was on the walls of the King's Tavern or "Waffle Tavern" at Vernon (now Rockville), Connecticut, when Lafayette was entertained there in 1825. All the characters of Roman mythology were pictured in woodland scenes printed in gray and black, on small squares of paper carefully matched. Below these ran a band bearing the names of the characters represented; and below this, a grassy green dado dotted with marine pictures. (p.69)
Plate XXXI.
Canterbury Bells.
Paper from Howe's Tavern, at Sudbury, Massachusetts,—the "Wayside Inn" of Longfellow's Tales. The fragment is in poor condition but possesses historic interest, having decorated the room in which Lafayette passed the night on his trip through America. (p.67)
Plate XXXII.
The First Railroad Locomotive.
Paper on an old house in High Street, Salem, supposed to represent the first railroad. The first trial of locomotives for any purpose other than hauling coal from the mines, took place near Rainhill, England, in 1829. The paper may celebrate this contest, at which of three engines was successful. (p.89-90)
Plate XXXIII.
High Street House Paper.
Scene on opposite side of same room. The subject and figures seem English. The scenes are in colors, the dado in black and grey on white ground.
Plate XXXIV.
Pizarro in Peru.
Remains of Pizarro paper in the Ezra Weston house now used for the famous Powder Point School for Boys, at Duxbury, Massachusetts. Formerly on sitting-room but now preserved in a small upper room; stained and dim. It was brought from Paris by Captain Gershom Bradford, and is supposed to depict scenes in Pizarro's invasion of Peru in 1531. The same figures are shown in successive scenes, more or less distinct though running into each other. (p.97)
Plate XXXV.
Pizarro in Peru.
Another corner of same room. Both the paper and photograph are difficult to reproduce.
Plate XXXVI.
Tropical Scenes.
Paper from the Ham House at Peabody, Massachusetts, now occupied by Dr. Worcester. These scenes are quite similar to those of the Pizarro paper, and may have been the work of the same designer.
Plate XXXVII.
Tropical Scenes.
Ham house paper. Another side of room.
Plate XXXVIII.
On the Bosporus.
From a house at Montpelier, Vermont, in which it was hung in 1825, in honor of Lafayette who was entertained there. The Mosque of Santa Sophia and other buildings of Constantinople are seen in the background.
Plate XXXIX.
On the Bosporus.
Opposite side of same room. Fishing from caiques on the Golden Horn before Stamboul.
Plate XL.
Oriental Scenes.
Paper still on the walls of the home of Miss Janet A. Lathrop, at Stockport, New York. It was put on the walls in 1820 by the sea captain who built the house, and in 1904 was cleaned and restored by the present owner. No other example of this paper in America has been heard of, except in an old house at Albany in which the mother of Miss Lathrop was born. In the "Chinese room" of a hunting lodge belonging to the King of Saxony, at Moritzburg, near Dresden, is a similar paper or tapestry from which this may have been copied. It is printed in grays which have become brown with age, from engraved blocks, and finished by hand. This is a rare example of the use of rice paper for a wall covering. (p.55)
Plate XLI.
Oriental Scenes.
Continuation of same paper; apparently a religious procession.
Plate XLII.
Oriental Scenes.
Another section of the Lathrop house paper.
Plate XLIII.
Oriental Scenes.
End of room containing three preceding scenes.
Plate XLIV.
Early Nineteenth Century Scenic Paper.
Side wall of parlor of Mrs. E. C. Cowles at Deerfield, Massachusetts. The house was built in 1738 by Ebenezer Hinsdale, and was re-modelled and re-decorated about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Still in good state of preservation. The colors are neutral.
Plate XLV.
Parlor of Mrs. Cowles' house, end of room.
Plate XLVI.
Plate XLVII.
At Windsor, Vermont, two more examples of this paper are still to be seen. One is on the house now occupied by the Sabin family. This was built about 1810 by the Honorable Edward R. Campbell, and the paper was hung when the house was new. (p.52)
Plate XLVIII.
Harbor Scene.
Paper found in three houses in New England—the home of Mr. Wilfred Cleasby at Waterford, Vermont; the Governor Badger homestead at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, built in 1825; and an old house in Rockville, Massachusetts, built about ninety years ago. The scene fits the four walls of the room without repetition. The design is printed in browns on a cream ground, with a charming effect. The geographical identity of the scenes has never been established. (p.109)
Plate XLIX.
The Spanish Fandango.
Continuation of same paper; another side of room.
Plate L.
Strolling Players.
Same paper, third view. The set of paper on the Cleasby house is said by descendants of the builder, Henry Oakes, to have cost $100, and $40 for its hanging. The similar set on the Badger homestead should have cost $50, had not the messenger lost the first payment sent, so that that sum had to be duplicated. This is on a smaller room than at the Cleasby house, requiring less paper. (p.76-80)
Plate LI.
Rural Scene.
Paper on the parlor of Mr. Josiah Cloye at Ashland, Massachusetts, and found also in several other places; colors neutral.
Plate LII.
Rural Scene.
From another example of the same set found at Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Plate LIII.
French Boulevard Scene.
Paper from the Forrester house at Salem, Massachusetts, now used as a sanitarium for the insane. Since the photographs were taken the paper has been removed as it unduly excited the patients.
Plate LIV.
French Boulevard Scene.
Same as above. Found also in a house at the sea-port town of Nantucket.
Plate LV.
Gateway and Fountain.
French paper, imported before 1800, but never hung. A few rolls still survive, in the possession of Mr. George M. Whipple of Salem, Massachusetts.
Plate LVI.
Scenes from Paris.
A very popular paper found in Federal Street, Salem, on the parlor of Mrs. Charles Sadler, daughter of Henry K. Oliver; in the Ezra Weston house at Duxbury, Massachusetts, built in 1808; the Walker house at Rockville, Massachusetts, and several other New England towns. The principal buildings of Paris are represented as lining the shore of the Seine. The inclusion of the Colonne Vendôme shows it to have been designed since 1806; and as the horses on the Carousel arch were returned to Venice in 1814, the paper probably dates between those years. (p.88)
Plate LVII.
Scenes from Paris.
Another side of room shown in Plate LVI. The paper is in pieces 16 by 21 inches. The colors are soft, with green, gray and brown predominating, but with some black, yellow, red, etc. The drawing is good.