Zuber's "Decor Chinois"...

I recently was asked to repair a room of Zuber wallpaper that had water damage and pet damage...

"Decor Chinois" was the pattern! First made in 1832, Decor Chinois has 57 colors in the design and came in three colorways-cream, pink and the popular green.

I remember my first visit to the Zuber Paris showroom...I had set up an appointment and buzzed the door to be let in...

There were all of the designs on panels to flip through. Each design was hand carved from pear wood and made into wood blocks. They are kept in a controlled climate and allowed to rest for several years between printing again.

The previous owners had a dog that scratched a large area back to the liner.

I repainted the design and moved on to the water damage...

Three walls had moderate to more extensive water damage from upstairs flooding...

Several panels had multiple water stains running top to bottom through the designs. I painstakingly touched up each flower, bird and leaf in the effected area and then blended the background...ahem, did I mention Zuber is know for their gradation in color on their backgrounds? They start with one tone at the top and become lighter in the middle and then another shade at the bottom.

Decor Chinois is no longer in production.  The pear wood blocks begin to crack and warp after a century of use and must be retired. One of the perks of being a decorative artist is a job like this one....to come full circle from viewing the papers as a young artist and then restoring them to their original beauty, to be appreciated by another generation of art lovers!

Decorative Wallpaper...

Joseph Dufour from the Musee de Papier et Peint

Well, it just doesn't get any better than this! Just look at those colors. The Hermes orange and cool turquoise pop against the muddied background. This is definitely work by Joseph Dufour.

Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique

Joseph and Pierre Dufour began their company in 1797. Sucess was not immediate and they liquidated soon after. Pierre left the business and when Joseph collaborated with Jean-Gabriel Charvet to create this twenty panel mural based on Captain Cook's voyages to the South Seas, Americans eagerly purchased it!

Joseph Ramee'

Joseph Ramee' was the  French architect and interior designer  that created this fabulous neoclassical motif. I love the stylized tonal design against the small red lined background.

The French seemed to master the hand blocked decorative papers in the 1880's. Using hand carved wood blocks and gouache paints, intricate designs using ribbons, urns and allegorical figures became popular.

Christopher Norman saw the importance of this era and produced a  modern line of papers based on the historic New England collection of 18th and 19th c wallpapers.

Adelphi has reintroduced panels based on Evariste Fragonard (son of Honore') These panels are widely known through their original production in the early 1900's.

Gracie is synonymous with asian influenced decorative papers.  Their choice of colors and intricate designs make Gracie paper distinguishable from other copies.

Dufour

Dufour also created stunning borders focusing on folds of fabric and floral motifs. He was fascinated with mimicking the sheen of silk and weaving floral trim against the soft fabric.

D. Giannelli was produced in France in the mid 1800's. This sample is from the Musee de Papier et Peints. The museum archives the most ornate papers from the 18th and 19th centuries.
These papers are only a small sampling of the true art that was produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. I hope these images inspired you to look at your walls in a new way!