Pattern: Vine
Ghost Blossom
Little is known about this fanciful vine pattern, aside from it being found in a cupboard in western North Carolina. The unexpectedly graphic depiction of transparency, plus the dramatic color choices (in the original) would be equally at home in designs of the early 20th century. This pattern is licensed to Adelphi Paper Hangings by the Colonial … Continued
Old Manse Vine
The delicately undulating vine design which still lines a bedchamber closet at The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, was installed between 1790 and 1800. The house was built by Reverend William Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grandfather, and his wife Phoebe who chose this wallpaper for the upstairs bedchamber. Later, when writer Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia … Continued
Vine and Paisley
This pattern was discovered in the front parlor of a Greek Revival farmhouse in Schuylerville NY, along with Adelphi’s Grape Cluster Frieze and the Greek Key Border, which was used to trim the doors and windows. All three papers were printed by the French firm of Jacquemart et Bernard. The surprising use of violet in … Continued
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
Orchid Vine
Adelphi’s Early-Twentieth Century Collection draws on the work and influence of the Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna and the French Moderne movement–later known as Art Deco–two of the most influential design schools of the century. Designers in Vienna and in Paris inspired and influenced a generation of designers throughout Europe and the United States, who created … Continued
Hermitage Vine
There is evidence that this pattern was another of those French papers that President Andrew Jackson selected for his Tennessee home (see Hermitage Leaf Border and Hermitage Maple Leaf). Unfortunately, an entire repeat of the pattern has not been found. When the Ladies’ Hermitage Association commissioned a reproduction, historic wallpaper expert Laura McCoy composed this … Continued
Everard Damask
This wallpaper is reproduced from fragments found on the walls of the dining room at the Thomas Everard House in the historic town of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. It is an excellent example of the large scale floral and foliate imitations of damask textiles that were popular in the mid 1700s. “Flocking” was often used to … Continued
Deerfield
This late century American-made paper was found in the Manse at Deerfield, Massachusetts. Its stylized abstraction of a floral design is inspired by the popular English interpretation of Japanese designs known as “Anglo-Japanesque.” The ground color of the historic colorway had the poetic name “ashes of roses.” By the 1860s machine roller printing began to … Continued
Concord Stripe and Vine
This striped flowering vine pattern was quite popular at the turn of the 19th century. It exists in at least two virtually identical versions, and has been found throughout Eastern Massachusetts. Adelphi’s pattern is from an example in the collections of Historic New England. It is from the Wheeler House in Concord, where it was … Continued
Chestertown Vine
The surviving document for Chestertown Vine was found in the Buck-Bacchus Store, the oldest commercial building in Chestertown, Maryland (and also the home of Adelphi’s Buck-Bacchus Border). The building was constructed in 1735 by John Buck, a wealthy Devonshire, England merchant who expanded his business holdings in the Colonies. The building was purchased by William … Continued