Floral wallpaper, from Uppark, West Sussex
England
About 1850-75
Colour print from engraved rollers
Museum no. E.800-1969
Given by Mrs Jean Meade-Fetherstonhaugh

Before the invention of washable surfaces, and the practice of varnishing the surface, papers quickly became marked, stained or simply accumulated surface dirt. One of the advantages of machine-printed papers was that they were cheap enough to replace regularly, giving an appearance of cleanliness. However, in 1903 Arthur Seymour Jennings noted of American homes that it was customary among the 'common class' to repaper a room without removing the previous layers: 'The custom of papering over old paper is disgusting. It covers old dirt, disease, germs and insects.' [AJS, 'Wallpapers and Wall coverings', William T. Comstock, New York, 1903, p.105.]