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SOME INTERESTING OLD TIME WALL 
By MARY H. 
No mementoes of early days afford a more interest- 
ing study than do the wonderful landscape papers still 
to be found on the walls of Colonial homes. They stand 
mute reminders of a bygone age, their patterns depict- 
ing scenes of historical import, and each possesses a 
glamour of mystery that evokes the wonderment of 
present day beholders. 
Salem, rich in old-time relies, possesses several ex- 
amples of these fine old papers. Many of them have 
been on the walls since the date of errection, while some 
few have been discovered in recent years, during periods 
of renovation. One such was unearthed in the Safford 
house when a great mirror was taken down to allow of 
a room being repapered. The entire panel back of the 
mirror was covered with a scene depicting the romance 
of Cupid and Psyche, evidently a remnant of the room’s 
first wall covering that had escaped effacement owing 
to its location. Its coloring was still fresh, and the 
panel showed intact, so it was decided to preserve it, 
and the old mirror was again hung in place. This paper 
was designed by Lafitte, and executed by Dufour, about 
a century ago, and consisted of 26 breadths, each five 
feet seven inches long by twenty inches wide. The de- 
sign was divided into twelve panels, and represented the 
marriage of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche’s lack of faith, 
and the sad consequences thereof. 
The walls of another room in this same home show 
a paper which was put on more than a hundred years 
ago, depicting scenes from an English hunt each panel 
handsomely colored in finely blended tones. Im the first 
is shown the huntsmen in bright red coats seated astride 
prancing steeds, with yelping hounds eager for the start 
beside them, the coloring of the whole emphasized by 
the soft tones of the contrasting greens and browns of 
the forest background. Then comes the run over hill 
and dale, on past cottages where wondering tenants 
gape in open-mouthed admiration, followed by the bring- 
ing of the stag to bay, the jubilation over the capture, 
and finally the feast upon the greensward, showing the 
huntsmen with their ladies fair. 
In the hallway of the old Andrews house, now the 
residence of City Solicitor Coolidge, is to be seen one 
of the rarest of old-time papers, the work of Bartol, the 
famous decorator. It is entirely hand-painted, and 
though Time has somewhat dimmed the brightness of its 
coloring, it is still wholly distinct. It depicts landscapes 
and waterfalls, and the effect of its mellowed and ex- 
quisitely blended tints is most attractive. 
In a chamber of this same dwelling, a quaint paper 
of ancient pattern until recently adorned the walls, be- 
ing the original covering, and numbering several years 
over a century of service. It was arranged in four 
separate patterns, all taken from Nature, repeated in- 
definite order around the four walls, and constituted 
probably the quaintest chamber wall hanging in New 
England. When it was removed a short time ago, a 
connection of the Andrews family sent for a bit of it to 
serve as a pattern, and had it reproduced by Bumstead. 
The reproduction now adorns a room in her home. 
The occupant of another Salem residence a while 
NORTHEND 
ago discovered in her attic rolls of old paper which > 
upon investigation proved to be one of the three rarest. 
known varieties. It is the Don Quixote pattern, depict- 
ing scenes from the adventures of this well-known 
character, beginning with his setting forth in quest of 
glory with his faithful steed, Sancho Panza, and con- 
tinuing on through his adventures to his return, a sad- 
der and a wiser man. This paper had been stored away 
for nearly half a century, but it appears today upvn 
the walls of one of the rooms as fresh as when it was 
brought from over the seas in the hold of some cumber-— 
some merchantman. Its soft, harmonious grey tones 
present the different scenes with wonderful distinctness, 
and the effect is picturesque in the extreme. 
The Henry K. Oliver house shows a very ancient 
wall covering in the parlour, representing Venetian 
scenes, and in another Salem dwelling, rolls of wonder- 
ful old French paper are preserved, which have never 
been used. But perhaps the most fanciful and romantic 
of all Salem papers is that selected by an old Salem 
merchant, and still seen on the walls of his beloved — 
residence, This man amassed a fortune when he reached 
middle age, and he invested a part of it in the erection 
of a mansion on Derby street, from the cupola of which 
he could watch his ships come in and anchor at Derby 
wharf. His parlour he had papered in a specially de- 
signed pattern, representing scenes from his own life, 
and the various panels tell a story as eventful as any 
that the masters of fiction have been able to conceive. 
First is shown his birthplace, a lowly thatched cottage 
in a little town over the seas, and then follows represen- 
tations of his adventures and struggles, ending in the 
culmination of his hopes, the final scenes showing his 
new mansion, his wharves, and his ships. 
Romance is rarely connected with wall paper, yet 
the old-time patterns are permeated with it. This is 
especially true of those shown in the Wheelwright house 
and in the Perry house, both of which are situated in 
Newburyport, in the old Lee mansion at Marblehead, 
and in the headquarters of the Colonial Dames of > 
Massachusetts. The last named refers to ‘‘ Dorothy Q’s”’ 
bridal paper, on which Cupids and Wenuses disport 
themselves as gaily as in 1775, and the crimsons and soft 
blues of the coloring have lost none of their freshness 
in the interim. 
The Lee mansion abounds in beautiful landscape 
papers, produced in tones of grey and brown, outlined 
in black, most of which are excellently preserved. In 
the large hall, shades of grey predominate. Landscapes, 
arranged like framed pictures, alternate with heraldic 
devices, the whole executed with great clearness of out- 
line. In other apartments castles with lawns and shrub- 
bery are represented, as well as rivers with sailboats 
upon their surface and figures upon their banks. All 
have a fitting Colonial setting, and are wholly in har- 
mony with the charm of this fine old home. 
The Wheelwright house shows a rare old paper 
showing Venetian scenery, and another which depicts a 
chariot race. The latter is particularly clear in outline, 
and decidedly amusing in character, showing that the 
