Procession Chinois was hand-blocked in France. This set at Still House in Long Island is a first edition of the wallpaper, made between 1811 and 1820. It consists of 30 unique panels, each 19 ½" wide. Interestingly, for such a large panoramic, the manufacturer is still unknown.

This rare antique Procession Chinois was installed at Still House in Matinecock, NY, on a 37 acre estate which is part of Long Island’s Gold Coast. The Georgian Colonial home, built in 1928, was designed by Bradley Delahanty and was the residence of Paul Cravath, a distinguished Manhattan lawyer and partner of the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Cravath was a leader in the Atlantist movement as well as a founding member and director of the Council on Foreign Relations. The house later became home to Baron Eugène von Rothschild and his wife Cathleen 'Kitty' Wolff when they moved to the United States during the Second World War. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were friendly with the Rothschilds and visited the house often during their residency.

Detail of Procession Chinois, note the Great Wall of China in the distance

This wallpaper was hand-printed using wood blocks, each representing a color and a piece of the pattern. Thousands of wood blocks were used to make this wallpaper, and the detail is incredibly fine in the faces, the architecture of the houses, buildings, roofs, horses, and the costumes of the figures. If you look closely, you can see the Great Wall of China in the background. Procession Chinois was made in either sepia or grisaille.

The name Procession Chinois is a modern name given to the paper since the original manufacturer is unknown. After much research, we have concluded that this manufacturer made other fantastic panoramics, including Pasage des Detroits, which has a similar procession and theme and the same trees and mountain backdrop.

Scenic Wallpaper has been fortunate to work on restoring two of these rare first editions. We installed the sepia version of the paper in Chicago. The set at Still House is much more complete and even has a repeat of the Procession from which the paper gets its title.

Besides the two sets that we know of in America, the paper is also in the collection of the Musee du Papier Peint in Rixheim, France and another at a castle in Germany. It has been photographed in other private homes, and interior designer John Saladino has a small screen with parts of the paper. Nancy McClelland, in her book Historic Wall-papers, shows an image of the same paper in Miss Anne Morgan’s Sutton Place Dressing Room, and there was another in the Lathrop House in Stockpot, Columbia County, NY. We do not believe either of these still exist.

When this paper was installed at Still House, it was over 100 years old (and is now 200 years old!). It’s unknown whether Paul Cravath had the paper installed or, more likely, the Rothschilds when they were in the house in the 1940's. Nancy McClelland was buying and selling these papers in that period and may have been involved with the installation. This set may be the most complete in one setting.

Scenic Wallpaper was hired to secure, clean and restore the antique paper. Due to the age of the wallpaper, our cleaning of the paper was dramatic. The colors became significantly brighter.

However, because of the age and fragility of the paint, especially in the sky, some areas flaked off and needed even more in-painting. This was a necessary part of the process.

Areas of worn color and chipped paper were in-painted to match, and several large leaks above the window were covered as well. This restoration was very detailed and involved meticulous work on every panel.