Wallpapers used to be made of rice paper in ancient China!
A wallpaper alters our room’s dimensions and reflects your fantasies onto the walls. This is what makes this home décor so appealing to us. With its intricate designs, beautiful colours, affordable pricing and simplicity of installation, it has grown in popularity worldwide. Did you know that initially rice paper was used to make wallpaper? Strange, right? Let’s look at the journey of wallpapers through centuries.
Wallpaper: The Chinese origin
Cai Lun, a Chinese court official, created paper around 105 BCE from a combination of mulberry bark, bamboo fibres, linen and hemp. Eventually, people started hand-painting paper to paste them on walls and beautify them. As early as in the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), the Chinese would plaster rice sheets on the wall. Later, rice was substituted with softer linen fibres, making it simpler to print and paint on paper. This is how wallpapers originated!
Wallpaper trots the globe
The art of producing paper had reached the West by the 12th century, thanks to the Silk Route (a trade route between the second century BC to mid- 15th century). Wallpapers created in China, first came to London in the late 17th century as part of trade. Unlike European wallpapers, Chinese papers were painted rather than printed and featured large-scale non-repeating graphic scenes.
Wallpapers of Europe
The first piece of surviving European wallpaper from 1509 was discovered at Christ’s College in Cambridge. This piece of history is crucial as it not only demonstrates how wallpaper patterns were influenced by textile designs but also for the use of block print. It was created by Hugo van der Goes, a Flemish painter and had pomegranates in a mosaic pattern inspired by Islamic prototypes. A rectangular wooden block was used in this method, and the design was carved onto its surface. The block was then inked with paint and put face down on the printing paper. Advances in the block printing technique helped wallpaper become affordable.
Another landmark in the evolution of wallpapers was the advent of flock wallpapers. They first appeared in 1634, when Jerome Lanier, a Huguenot refugee living in London, patented a process for applying coloured wool on painted paper. Flock wallpapers were created by shaking powdered wool, a by-product of the woollen industry, over a fabric, printed with a design using paint or sizing (a glue-like substance). A thick pile of wool powder adhered to the regions where the pattern was present. They gained enormous popularity very soon. Due to the use of turpentine (paint solvent) in the glue, flock sheets also had the added benefit of repelling moths!
Impact of Industrial Revolution
Europe’s Industrial Revolution from the mid 18th to 19th century witnessed advancements in innovation. And the wallpaper industry was no exception. French wallpaper tycoon Jean Zuber contributed to several new concepts, including luminescent papers and embossing devices that made the paper look like leather. Wait, there is more. In 1839 Potters & Ross, a cotton printing company based in Darwen, Lancashire, filed a patent for the first wallpaper printing machine. Machines were made for printing stripes evenly. Moreover, they created a ‘colour kitchen’ where formulas for artificial colours such as Schweinfurt green and ultramarine were developed.
With ever-falling prices, machines could print intricately complex landscapes more precisely and efficiently. Moreover, new inventions in paper and printing technology along with the introduction of synthetic dyes improved the quality of wallpapers. However, with the rising concern of sanitary hygiene, aesthetics took a back seat and wallpapers suffered because they couldn’t be cleaned. So, a new type of wallpapers emerged: The sanitary wallpapers. But they were more utilitarian than aesthetic with washable surfaces, pre-pasted backs, and solid embossed borders.
The dwindling popularity of wallpapers
The 20th century saw the growing demand for painted walls. So, wallpapers had a difficult time surviving. However, they didn’t vanish. They were used to give a smooth look to uneven walls while helping small homes look bigger. However, in the 80s, their popularity hit a rock bottom though they didn’t disappear. Of late, it has made a comeback by entering the luxury segment. Brands like Hermes, Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Lacroix have entered the wallpaper industry. Now, the papers come in all the classic designs, including botanicals, flowers, textures, rock styles, damasks and panels!