The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-05-15
EVOLUTION OF WALLPAPER.
When and Where Il Was fhsl Used Modern
Methods OF Design and Manufacture.

While various kinds OF printed fa-
brics were known 20 the people OF most
remote antiquity, IL was not till the
eighteenth century that wall paper in
anything like it's present form came in
TO common use in Europe, though it
appears TO have been used much earlier
in China. A few rare examples which
may be as early as the sixteenth GEN.
tury exist i'm England. but these Are
limitations. generally In flock" of the
old Florentine and Genoese cut velvets,
and hence the style OF the design in no
way shows the date of the wall paper,
the same traditional patterns being re-
produced with little or no change for
many years, says the Paper Trade. IL
was not till the end OF the last century
that the machinery TO make paper in
long strips was invented. Up to that
time wall papers were printed ON small
square pieces OF hard made paper and
were very expensive. ON this account
wall paper was slow in superseding the
olaer mural decorations, such as ta-
pestry, stamped leather and paper
cloth.
a work printed In London lin 17ii
throws some light on the use OF wall
papers at thai time: The method az
printing wall papers OF the better sort
is probably the same now that IL has
ever been. Wooden blocks with rhe
design cut in relief. one for each color.
are applied by hand, after being. dipped
In an elastic cloth sieve charge with
wet tempera pigment, great care being
taken to lay each block exactly on the
right place so that the various colOrs
may register or fit together In order
to suit the productions OF the paper
mills these blocks are made in Eng
land II inches wide, and In France IS
inches wide. The length OF the block Is
limited 70 what the workman can cas-
lily lift with one hand-two feet being
about the limit as the blocks are neces-
sarily thick, and in many cases made
heavier by being inlaid with copper. es-
peciaily the thin outlines. which NJ made
OF wood. would not stand the wear and
tear OF printing.
I'm flock and gold or silver printing
the design Is first printed in strong size,
the flock (finely cut wool ot the requir-
ed color). or metallic powder, is then
sprinkled by hand all over the paper:
IL adheres only 20 the wet size, and is
easily shaken of the ground or unsized
part. If the pattern is required to
stand out in some relief, the process is
repeated several times. and the whole
paper tnen rolled TO compress the nock.
Cheaper sorts OF paper are printed by
machinery. the design being cut on the
surface OF wooden rollers under which
the paper passes. The chief drawback
10 this process is that all the colors are
applied rapidly one after the other
without allowing each 10 dry separate
ly, as Is done in hand printing. A some
what blurred appearance Is usually the
result"
Today with the great Improvement in
machinery. and a thorough knowledge
of preparing the color's. equally as good
effects are produced by machine work
as by hand printing. The principal
difficulty has been that a sufficient
number of colors to produce artistic ef-
fects could not be procured in machine
work. but as wall paper printing ma
chimes are now made which will print
II. Is and % colOrs. as fine results may
be obtained this way as by hand print
ing at one-third the cost. thus bringing
artistic wall papers Within the reach of
a large portion of hhe population who
thoroughly appreciate mural art deco
rations i'm their homes. and no wall pa
per factory is complete today without
one of thesa many volored printing ma
chimes.