A short introductory history of wallpaper
For most of its history wallpaper has been the poor relation of the decorative arts: because it is fragile, ephemer…
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Pugin's wallpapers from The Grange
The Grange was originally designed for and by A.W.N. Pugin incorporating one-off designs of floor tiles, stained gl…
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Flock wallpapers
The status of flock wallpaper has undergone a dramatic transformation over the space of three centuries. Once a lux…
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Wallpaper design reform
Pugin's principle of historical authenticity in the design of ornament, and his belief that only flat patterns shou…
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Chinese wallpapers in the British Galleries
The V& A has one of the finest collections of Chinese wallpapers. The examples selected for the British Galleri…
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Walter Crane cover design for ‘Illustrations of the Victorian Series and Other Wall-Papers’
This design for the cover of a book of wallpapers manufactured by Jeffrey and Co was created by Walter Crane (1845-…
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Printmaking in the 21st century
What is a print? The term now encompasses stencilled guerrilla graphics, museum-sponsored billboards, appropriated or found material, a cake iced with a laser-jet printed image, printed MDF floors, wallpapers and soft furnishings. In recent years printmaking has co-opted painting and sculpture, dress and domestic furnishings, commerce and cyberspace. Dynamic and democratic, the world of printmaking now includes the billboard and the badge, the masterpiece and the multiple, the priceless and the give-away.
Study Room resource: Pattern
This study room resource examines designs for wallpaper and texiles by designers from 1868 to 1978. Also available are teachers notes and a reading list.
Designs collections at the V&A
The Victoria and Albert Museum has an outstanding collection of design drawings, encompassing European and American drawings for architecture and interiors, and sculpture, and for the applied and industrial arts, including ceramics, furniture, jewellery, metalwork, stained glass, product design, graphic design, fashion, textiles and wallpaper.
Aestheticism - the cult of beauty
In the 1860s the new and exciting 'Cult of Beauty' united, for a while at least, romantic bohemians such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and Whistler.
Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950
From 19 May 2012 the V&A celebrates the opening of the newly renovated Fashion Galleries with an exhibition of beautiful ballgowns, red carpet evening dresses and catwalk showstoppers.
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Wallpaper in Interior Decoration
Charts the rich and varied history of wallpaper, from its modest beginnings in the 16th-century, through the lavish designs of the 18th-century to the computer generated patterns of the late 20th-century.
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