The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-14
new IN WALL COVERINGS.
PAPERS WADE TO INITIATE WOOD,
LEATHER AND SILK.

switzerland Come the silks Made 10
Represent French BrOcaded Hanging.
Two women, perplexed and tired, sat
Al luncheon In a restaurant the other day.
One was from the country. She had enlisted
the aid Of a city friend to select wal papers
for her house. and the friend, although
she had never selected a roll OF wall paper
in her life, willingly assented.
In the morning six shops had been visited.
with the result that not one roll Of paper
was purchased, nor had the country woman
gained one clear idea Of what she really
wanted. Completely bewildered by the
varieties offered she changed her mind on
an average once a minute. To make mat
ters more confusing no two Of the attentive
salesmen advised the same thing.
Seated near the two women in the restau-
rant Was a nsisS5or o: thS city woman
whom up to that moment she had re-
garded with indifference. Now, all OF a
sudden. this neighbor was a person TO be
regarded almost with veneration, for had she
not lately had a big four story house re-
decorated from top to bottom? As a result
of a half hour talk the two novices started
Of with renewed courage, fortified with
a list of wall paper specialists and their
addresses.
The first man on the list was found in a
shop in a side street. better known to whole
sale than to retail buyers. His advice was
asked respecting library and dining room
wall coverings from a fairly economical
standpoint. Saidh he:
Perhaps Japanese leathers-pulp papers
yeated as only the Japanese can treat
hem-are having a greater vogue just now
than anything else for the purpose named,
and there is this to be aid in their favor:
They are extremely durable, they ma be
cleaned with soap and. water without in
Jury and they are only a fraction Of the
price Of real leather, and il anything more
beautiful.
In fact, so far IA color combinations 90,
there is now nothing more artistic on the
market. Whether in plain effects. which
resemble a burlap weave, a variety Of which
Is called crushed levant, or in floral, con-
v~entional or heraldic designs. used as a
fieze above the plain. and again as a cover
ing for the entire wall above the wainscot-
ing, the blending and shading OF colors are
remarkable.
The reaon for this is that to a great
extent the patterned japanese papers are
hand painted. After the pattern is stamped
through from the back on the soft pulp
the paper is treated to a bath Of silver
aluminium. over that are spread two coats
Of gold lacquer wiped OF by hand in spots
to give a shaded effect. and the colored
lacquers applied TO the stencil are treated
in the came way.
After that the stencil pattern is supple
mented, in the higher grade papers, with
segments OF color and shadings applied
with a brush. The more hand work there
L. - thA 1anDw kha MARI IL o1afa
At this point there we're spread out be-
fore the customer some Of the palmer varie-
ties. which included shimmering copper
effects lone by mingling gold and bronze;
a design Of green and silver, the silver
shining through the green; another Of red
and gold notified, still another OF peacock
and silver tones, and every one as thick
and pliable as leather.
In this seasons importations," the
specialist explained, there are figured
designs the groundwork Of which matches
the palmer papers. These are used as a
Hrieze as we'll as for the entire wall. These,
by the way. include many English designs
by noted painters wrought out and in
dividualized by the Japanese in their leather
papers.
Take, for example, this peacock design.
The original was designed for the house
OF a noted Englishman.'
The bird was perhaps two feet in length,
worked out in dull tones OF green, blue
and bronze blending so harmoniously
with a large conventional leaf design in
bronze copper and dark green that it WA
not easy TO tell where the one left OF and
the other began. The otherwise startling
effect OF birds poised at equal istanc
was entirely done away with. One notice
able design, birds in a rice field, was OF
green and gold combined to give a silvery
effect.
"A dining room, library or hall lone in
these papers Is now the height OF fashion
and, what is more. will be in fashion for
years to come,' the specialist told tha
woman.
The price?"
Anywhere from IS TO $50 and more a
roll, the fooled Japanese feathers. made
now by only one man in Japan, bringing
sometimes as high as $40 a roll at retail.
The Japanese roll, however. is twelve
yards long and one yard wide, as against
the eight yards long and half a yard wide
American roll
Japanese silk grass cloth, not unlike the
rough silk pongee 80 popular last summerfor
women's gowns, il now In favor for draw
ing room wall decorations with house
hold ers whose taste runs to japanese
adomments. Tn best selling varieties
have a notified and slightly shaded effect.
The next specialist consulted by the
country woman and he rfriend initiatedthem
into novelties in paper designed to repre-
sant panelled walls, frescoed ceilings,
beamed ceilings, wainscotings, DC, OF
Colonial, old English, Flemish, Dutch and
other styles. Leading the women into a
small room. he waved his hand as much as
70 say, Take your pick"
But none OF this n paper" said the
country woman, wonderin ely.
Its all paper" CORRECTED the specialist.
Then he brought out square after square
OF heavy pulp paper pressed into concave
and convex designs, representing anything
and everything In the way Of woodwork.
some OF the smaller designs being an e1-
cellent imitation Of glazed tiles.
All Of these squares were white and he
explained that not until after the walls
and ceilings are covered are the painting
and granting done.
The wainscoting In the room exhibited
vas stained and grained to represent oak.