Scenic Wallpaper

 In 2018, Scenic Wallpaper received a call from a new client who had inherited a unique wallpaper from a former elementary school teacher some years before. The retired teacher had owned an antique shop in Churchville, Maryland, where she had come across an antique wallpaper which was very old and fragile. It’s origins were unknown, but she thought it was from a great house in Baltimore.

After inheriting the very delicate wallpaper, the client kept it encased it in a capped pipe to protect it from the sun and insects. It lived in that long tube for more than a decade, as the owner tried to figure out how to take care of and display it as no one in the field would take on the project. The paper only grew more fragile each time it was removed from its case.

After examining the extremely fragile paper in our studio, we concluded that it was mulberry paper, mounted on muslin. It was hand painted between 1800 and 1820.

The wallpaper was hand painted in a beautiful palette of colors - blues, greens, reds and whites. It also featured stylized clouds and forests of bamboo. In the bamboo forest, we see figures of scholars, fisherman, farmers, and peking ducks.

The team at Scenic Wallpaper carefully removed the paper, pieced it back together on panels, and cleaned it, adding in missing pieces to be in-painted.

After the paper was in place on the new boards and cleaned, our artist carefully matched the colors and in-painted any missing or worn artwork.

After restoration, the boards were shipped to the client to finally be displayed and enjoyed once again.

See more of our Antique Wallpaper restorations here.

See more of our installations on Boards and Screens here.