A RARE SET OF CHINESE PAINTED WALLPAPER, FORMERLY HUNG IN COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

June 9 2009, 2:59pm

The present set of Chinese wallpapers is a very fine and unusual example of the hand-painted papers exported from the Far East to England and America from the late 17th to the 19th century. Though the papers were predominantly exported from Canton, they are referred to in contemporary documentation as “Indian papers,” no doubt due to their importation by the British and French East India Companies. Wallpaper like the present example was a product made almost exclusively for export to Western countries. The designs of Chinese wallpapers can be divided into three main categories, with only a few exceptions. The first group contains designs of human figures as the primary feature, going about the activities of daily life and labor. The next group contained human figures, this time set in floral and arborous landscapes. Most surviving examples, including the present set of papers, belong to the last division of Chinese wallpapers of the “bird and flower” variety.