Something for Everybody!

I have to admit to a sort of wallpaper addiction (Gracies, de Gournay etc).

via Domino (Feb. 2007) photographed by Barrie Benson

As a child I was enthralled by the studio and home of two of my mother's close friends who specialised exclusively in wallpaper design. So of course I was thrilled to see a like minded soul at work whilst admiring the posts in 'A Bloomsbury Life'.

Inspired by the large de Gournay panel pictured above, it was the peculiar addictive properties of wallpaper that led me to the Victoria and Albert Museum archives. I thought I should share the invaluable resource available at the V & A http://www.vandaprints.com/ Largely based on wallpaper and fabric design, the designs are available in custom sizes as prints and canvas transfers, and yes they do ship overseas. Pricing is excellent for rolled prints and canvases. Standard sizing is up to 1250mm with larger images available as custom orders. Available collections include stunning mid century photographic images and a multiplicity of antique and vintage of graphic designs. I'll post more over the coming week:

Wallpaper with flowering shrubs and fruit bees, on a pale green background. China, 18th century.

Wallpaper Fragment. The Thorn Damask Pattern. Machine & woodblock print. c.1838.

Wallpaper panel. Tempera. China, 1725-50.

Bird Pattern Wallpaper, by Luise Delefant (active 1950s), from The Oman & Hamilton wallpaper catalogue. Breisach, Germany, c.1955.

Wallpaper from a book of wallpapers. Lyon's Stripe. England, early to mid 19th century.

Wallpaper. Paper impression from a copper plate of a textile design, from the Bromley Hall Pattern Book. England, late 18th century