Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-22
COSTLY WALLPAPER.
Some Varieties Come Much Higher
Than Fine Silk.

From Tit Bits.
1t may come as a SURPRISE to those house
holders who are accustomed to pay few
shillings apiece for their drawing room pa
pers to learn that in many Of the wealthy
houses the walls are covered with materials
which cost considerably more than the
finest silk.
Here" sad a wallpaper manufacturer
the other day, "are examples of what We
call tapestry papers. They are copied ex
actly from the finest Smyrna and Turkish
rugs. the coors and designs being repro
duced as YOU can see for yourself, with
startling fidelity. We have men ranSaCk-
ing all Europe copying paintings and mural
decorations of past centuries. Here is the
pattern OF very beautiful design of the
time of Louis XVI. which We obtained in
rather a curious way.
''One of our customers happened to be
IN Paris last summer, and being fond of In
spectinG old mansions. one day entered a
tumble down chateau which formerly be-
longed to Il dead and long forgotten mar
quise. The rooms were absolutely rottfng
away, but in the salon the wallpaper still
hung. though in ribbons. The pattern was
so exquisite IN design. and the coloring.
vivid still in many places, so harmonious
that he collected as many portions as he
could and sent them to with a request to
reproduce perfectly as possible.
I'VE succeeded beyond his best hopes,
walls of a West End mansion. We only
manufactured sufficient to cover the ball
room. and it cost him a matter Of e a
yard but he never grumbled and after all.
it was not dear considering the difficulty
we had.
wallpaper is now made to initiate IN the
minutest detail every kind of wood, the
finest grained mahogany, green ash. deli
cately veined maple. and. in fact. all those
woods which are used for panel:ng. When
polished it is impossible to tell the differ
ence, and I defy any one to distinguish our
paper from wood by merely looking at IT.
l have been deceived myself many a time:
Then we have papers resembling mo-
sales and Sienna marble, as well as the
famous embossed Cordova feathers. These
latter are very expensive, being retailed at
3Os yard. 1t Is, however, practically in
destructible. and can be washed and
secured like ordinary woodwork. An tmi-
taton OF these feathers Is also made which,
of course. costs considerably less being sold
at about 35s. roll of eight yards but even
this price is beyond the purses of any but
the really wealthy.
I'VE pay large sums for special designs,
and many of our artists earn incomes
which the most Woodworking r. A. s would
not despise. There seems to be at present
a run on delicate tints and floral designs.
A particularly effective paper is one show
ing lattices Of climbing roses blending into
family tinted sky lines. 1t has the tex
ture Of the finest silk and costs as much.
Another design which is very popular just
now we imported from Holland-shfps in
full sail, with glimpses of trees and the red
of Dutch roofs in the distance. This. in
the finest ma terials, We can retail at 5s a
yard.
Many Of our wallpapers are designed ee-
pecially for a customer, and when such Is
the case the price. of course, runs high. A
couple Of years ago a gentleman came In
and chose a very beautiful design. and then
informed us that he desired the paper to be
copied directly on to the walls Of his draw
ing room in oils. OF course we fulfilled his
order but 1t cost him a small fortune.
Six months later he came and told US he
was tired to death of the design, and or
dered us to paint it out, which we did sub
sttuting a paper this time for the paint.
I'VE have several customers on our books
who have the papers on their walls changed
every two months. They get weary of
looking at the same pattern day after day.
and as they have plenty Of money we don't
trouble ourselves trying to argue them out
of their eccentric notions. In one house in
Park lane our bill for wallpapers ran to
over f7OO for the year, and this is by no
means an isolated case. Yes, 1t Is fairly
paying business but one must employ only
the best artists to get the best results. and
that, of course. brings the profits down.
but. the whole. We are very well salts
fled"