Weird and Wonderful Wallpapers

Posted by:
Ella Ravilious
Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 16:59

Guest post by Daniel Milford Cottam:

“My wallpaper is killing me. One of us will have to go” – Oscar Wilde.

Among many other things, the Prints, Drawings and Paintings collection also includes a spectacular selection of wallpapers. This post showcases some of the more striking, unusual and eclectic wall-coverings spanning the late 18th to the late 19th centuries. Click on the images if you would like more information about each one.

Image of a blue and grey wallpaper with a building themed design

Potters of Darwen. “Perspective views of a Railway Station”. Lancashire, 1850-1853.

Colour woodblock print.

E.558-1980

Surreal wallpaper peopled with strange figures

F. Scott & Son. Grotesque/comic wallpaper. British, 1870s.

Lithograph.

E.626-1945

Image of a wallpaper with an Indian theme

Allan, Cockshut & Co. “Hindoo Gods”. London, 1880s.

Colour machine print.

E.1821-1934

Wallpaper depicting Queen Victoria

F. Scott & Son. “Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee” Hawick, Scotland, 1887.

Colour print from engraved rollers.

E.791-1970

Wallpaper featuring a bird in a cage

Unknown. Wallpaper showing a birdcage and a drum. Lancashire, c.1800.

Etching hand-coloured with watercolours.

E.937-2000

Wallpaper with a design of half naked women

Unknown. Risqué wallpaper for a gentleman’s club. American, c.1900.

Machine  print on laminated paper.

E.590-1994

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We are a group of cataloguers, photographers, curators and volunteers, nicknamed 'the Factory'. We are working through the stored collections of the Prints, Designs, Photographs, Paintings and Digital Art sections of the Word and Image department at the V&A, making sure that images and existing data about the items we hold are available to the public via Search the Collections.

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