56 
House & Garden 
OLD SCENIC PAPERS 
IN NEW ROOMS 
A Chat About A Revival 
and Its Reason 
DAVID SCOTT 
I T gives one a feeling of distinction to recall 
the fact that scenic papers, now coming again 
into vogue, are lineal descendants of the pictures 
of the hunt and battle our aboriginal ancestors 
scratched on the walls of their caves. Of course, 
those original forebears had many descendants. 
The artist claims to be from that same genealogi¬ 
cal tree, and the mural decorator. But their little 
sister is not to be denied. Wall paper, especially 
of the scenic variety, has a fairly respectable 
heritage and its return to favor in this day is only 
an indication of the intrinsic merit and artistry 
of the old designs. 
Wall paper has as many claimants for its birth 
place as Homer has cities. China and Japan both 
put forw-ard plausible claims. Holland says she 
first introduced the idea of a papered wall to the 
rest of the world, having brought block printed 
sheets of paper to Eng'Iand and France. 
E.t\RLY Pictorial Papers 
The pictorial paper began to find favor in 
Europe in the 18th Century. In 1744 Jackson 
of Battersea published a book of designs for 
paper showing Italian views reproduced after this 
mode. ■ But previous to this time, in 1735, wall 
papers w'ere first brought to this country. 
As the price of these early scenic papers made 
them a great luxury, they were reserved for 
the best rooms of the house—the drawing-room 
or parlor. In fact, so highly were they prized 
that it was not unusual for a bridegroom to 
include among his presents to his bride, a set of 
papers to be hung in their new home. Often 
when a house was being planned, designs were 
drawn up for special papers, and these were made 
in England expressly for that house. 
Visitors to Salem, Marblehead and Newburyport 
will recall the pictorial papers in the Andrew Saf- 
ford house, the Knapp house, the Lee Mansion, the 
W’hipple residence and others. The best examples 
date from about twenty-five years prior to the 
Revolution and fifty years afterward. From that 
time on they fell into disfavor as did many 
meritorious customs, when the decorative and 
"Scenes on the Bosphorus" teas printed over a 
hundred years ago by an unknoion firm. This 
example hangs in the Lee house in Marblehead 
Photographs by Frank Cousins 
"The Hunt" was printed by Bfveillon of Paris 
in the latter part of the 18t/i Century. The 
glimpse here is hung in the Andrew Safford 
house in Salem, Massachusetts 
architectural dark days of the past century came. 
The last few years have witnessed a revival of 
the use of these scenic papers. Quite apart from 
the matter of their being a fashion, we can find 
a distinct reason for this return. As in any 
phase of life, a revival usually has more raison 
d'etre'than the transient dictates of whim and 
fad. The life of the time and the styles of 
decoration constitute a philosophy that must not 
be overlooked in considering the cause. 
The first reason for the revival is the demand 
for suitable backgrounds for Colonial rooms. 
The past twenty years have seen a decided 
flair for Colonial rooms in certain parts of the 
country. In but few instances was the decora¬ 
tion sincere. It was a jumble. We had furniture 
of Colonial lines against a background of 
Japanese grass cloth. Fortunately the vogue for 
grass cloth has waned. We then fell into the 
way of Colonial stripe paper, and now in rooms 
of pretentions we are using reproductions of the 
old scenic papers with excellent effect. 
Backgrounds and Decoration 
A suitable background is as requisite for a 
Colonial room as it is for a Jacobean or Louis 
X\T room. A jumble of things that pleases may 
prove satisfactory for a time, but being insincere 
it will eventually be disregarded. The scenic 
paper is a sincere background for certain types 
of Colonial rooms, but not all. As in the beginning, 
so now—the formal rooms and the rooms not 
constantly used are the ones in which scenic 
papers should preferably be hung. 
And at this juncture we reach the philosophy of 
our present life and of decoration which has 
been active in the revival, and constitutes the 
second reason for the return of scenic papers. 
Walls are backgrounds against which we furnish, 
homes are backgrounds against which we live. 
The kind of room and the kind of life both 
decide the furnishing of the room. Pictorial 
paper forms an active background, and it requires 
little activity before it. It is not a restful paper, 
heuce there must be restfulness in front of it to 
act as foil. We could not live day in and day 
out with a pictorial paper because there is so much 
bustle and activity in our lives day in and day. 
out. So, then, active papers such as these should 
be used only in those rooms that we live in oc¬ 
casionally or only a part of the day. Moreover, 
when a scenic paper is used, the paper itself is 
{Continued on page 64) 
In the Cook-Oliver house in Salem is a French 
scenic paper showing the Madeleine and St. 
Sulpice. The manufacturer is unknown 
