Era: 1775-1800
Reveillon Vine
Though the Reveillon factory is famous for elaborate multi-color arabesque patterns their designers created equally engaging, yet simple papers, for smaller or secondary rooms. When installed, the slender stems create a subtle undulation, not apparent from the viewing a single width of the paper. The reproduction of this pattern was commissioned by George Washington’s Mount … Continued
Reveillon Damask
Adelphi’s Réveillon Damask is reproduced from a fragment in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg. The pattern has also been found underneath a simple flowered paper in a house on the Quai Voltaire in Paris. It was printed by the firm of Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, the most famous French manufacturer of wallpaper in the late 18th century. … Continued
Reveillon Arabesque 810
The reproduction of this pattern was commissioned by the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins University; the original document is in their collection. While many double repeating arabesques – those with two veritical rows of the pattern per width of paper – use a modest number of colors this one incorporates 14 colors printed with 24 … Continued
Reveillon Arabesque 600
Pattern #600, from the factory of Jean-Baptiste Reveillon, is a most unusual example of a French arabesque pattern. Not only does it exhibit finely detailed block printing but many of the colors are hand painted transluscent washes. Highlights on the allegorical figures are 23 karat gold leaf. No pattern which we have set out to … Continued
Plymouth Stripe & Vine
The original document of the Plymouth Stripe and Vine is in the collection of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. The paper was found in the Jackson House on Leyden Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which was built in 1734 by Reverend Nathaniel Leonard, purchased from the Leonard heirs in 1766 by Barnabus Hedge, and subsequently purchased by … Continued
Plain Papers
Plain colored, unprinted papers were fashionable from about 1760-1820, often hung with elaborate festoon or other borders. These papers have been discovered in historic houses ranging from simple to grand on both sides of the Atlantic. We know of installations in the fairly humble Pendleton House in North Carolina, as well as the imposing Osterley … Continued
Parakeets and Pearls
Typical of French papers of the period, this delicate and highly sophisticated pattern uses naturalistic motifs in an arabesque arrangement. The term “Arabesque” refers to the placement of figures with a bilateral symmetry into a columnar format. In this case the columns are set in a half-drop of the pattern repeat. This Parisian arabesque exemplifies … Continued
Otis Federal Stripe
Vine and stripe patterns gained wide spread popularity during this time period. This elegant example was found in the first Harrison Gray Otis House in Boston, now the headquarters of the Historic New England. Built by a young lawyer in the mid -1790s, the house was decorated with many small-figured English wallpapers, which were fashionable … Continued
Locust Grove Arabesque
During a 1962 renovation, fragments of this pattern were discovered in Locust Grove, the 1790s Federal style home of William Croghan, near Louisville, Kentucky. Though the few surviving pieces comprised only a small portion of the overall pattern, it nevertheless obvious the paper was of a higher caliber than what would have typically been used … Continued
Laurel Trellis
This simple pattern was found on a wedding box made in Paris in May 1804; the box is now in the collection of the Musee de Papier Peint, Rixheim, France. The document colorway with its soft pink background and vivid greens is very a la mode for the early Directoire period. The scale of the … Continued