Chinese wallpaper has been an important element of European interior decoration for three hundred years. As trade between Europe and China flourished in the seventeenth century, Europeans developed a strong taste for Chinese art and design. The stunningly beautiful wall coverings now known as 'Chinese wallpaper' were developed by Chinese painting workshops in response to western demand. A sophisticated synthesis of eastern and western art, Chinese wallpapers were an early-modern global product and they are still popular and influential today.
In spite of their spectacular beauty, Chinese wallpapers have not been studied in any depth until relatively recently. This book provides an overview of some of the most significant Chinese wallpapers surviving in the British Isles. Sumptuously illustrated, it shows how these wallpapers became a staple ingredient of high-end interiors while always retaining a touch of the exotic. The book charts the stylistic development of Chinese wallpaper, allowing individual wallpapers to be more securely dated. It also touches on the China trade, the crucial role of the paper-hangers and the social significance of Chinese-style decoration in Britain.
Chinese Wallpaper in Britain and Ireland will be a ground-breaking resource for both scholars and designers, as well as for anyone interested in historic interior decoration.
Industry Reviews
Offers dizzying temptations. After even a cursory flick, it is impossible not to feel one's curiosity piqued by surviving descriptions, for example, of the Countess of Castlemaine's rooms at Wantead House, "finely adorned with China paper, the Figures of Men, Women, Birds, Flowers, the Liveliest I ever saw." -- Matthew Dennison * The World of Interiors *
You would be forgiven for turning to Chinese Wallpaper in Britain and Ireland for the pictures alone. Here are tantalising glimpses of private chambers, hung with geometric arrangements of Chinese prints in the mid-18th century. Luxuriate only in the images, though, and you stand to miss de Bruijn's formidable detective work, charting the complex cross-pollination of influences between Western Europe and China. -- Hettie Judah * Art Quarterly *
This is the first volume in a welcome cooperation between The National Trust and Philip Wilson Publishers which, it is planned, will lead to a wider exposure to the public of some of the valuable and unique furnishings and valuables within the properties held by the NT. As usual, Philip Wilson Publishers have excelled with their production of this book on the wallpapers within National Trust properties. Up until now, there was just a slim National Trust brochure on this neglected subject. Now we have a proper book in which the illustration is matched by the scholarship. -- Paul Harris * Chinese Art Blog *
Chinese wallpaper has been an important element of western interior decoration for three hundred years. As trade between Europe and China flourished in the seventeenth century, Eurpeans developed a strong taste for Chinese art and design. The stunningly beautiful wall coverings now known as Chinese wallpaper were developed by Chinese painting workshops in response to western demand. Despite their spectacular beauty, Chinese wallpapers have not been studied by European scholars in any depth until relatively recently. Chinese Wallpaper in Britain and Ireland, by Emile de Bruijn, changes that. It provides an overview of some of the most significant surviving Chinese wallpapers in private and public ownership in the British Isles. Sumptuously illustrated, it shows how these wallpapers be-came a staple ingredient of high-end interiors. * Asian Books Blog *
