Highlights from the Wallcoverings Collection | Collection Highlights | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Arabesque; with four different classical female figures, with vases, flowers and putti. Block printed and hand-painted in color with gilded highlights on ungrounded white paper.

Sidewall (France), 1788
block printed, hand painted and gilded on handmade paper.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
1985-26-1

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 11 images of this object.

Includes the Bay of Naples, an erupting Mount Vesuvius, tall ships in the harbor, and many figures attending to business and pleasure. 27 panels plus fragments of panels. Printed in a monochrome yellow ocher colorway, possibly called biche chamois.

Scenic, Les Vues d'Italie (Views of Italy), ca. 1830
block-printed on joined sheets of handmade paper.
Museum purchase from Sarah Cooper-Hewitt, Pauline Cooper Noyes, and General....
2000-29-1-a/mm

This object was made by Dufour et Leroy.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 31 images of this object.

Volume contains 1,361 woodblock printed samples, 93 leaves. Designs include textile imitations, florals, geometrics, fancy gimps. Swatches detail the company's production from 1822-30.

Sample Book (France), 1822–30
block-printed, gilded, flocked, handmade paper.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment and Decorative Arts....
1986-34-2-1/1364

This object was made by Jacquemart & Bénard.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 48 images of this object.

Set of scenic wallpaper "Psyche", consisting of 26 panels which form 12 scenes based on the Jean de la Fontaine story "Les Amours de Psyche" (1669).

Scenic - Panel, Reconciliation of Venus and Psyche, 1923
block printed on continuous paper.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Abraham M. Adler.
1974-109-11-a/c

This object was made by Dufour et Leroy and Desfossé et Karth.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.

Children's paper showing scenes from the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built". Vertical rectangle of full width, giving one repeat. In center, seated in high-backed Gothic chair, the Priest all Shaven and Shorn, before whom kneel the Maiden all Forlorn and the Man all Tattered and Torn. Other elements of the rhyme incorporated in the design. Printed in greens and reds on pale yellow ground. Designed in the Aesthetic style: elements all very flat with little sense of depth, and shapes are heavily outlined.

Sidewall, The House that Jack Built, 1886
machine printed on paper.
Gift of Grace Lincoln Temple.
1938-62-57

This object was made by Jeffrey & Company.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Repeat of leafy stems and rosettes in relief, gold on dull red. One half of each leaf textured with cross-hatching, pebbling, imbrication or venation unlike that of other half. Rosettes centered with Maltese crosses, circles of dots, etc. The metallic-gold floral pattern stands out in high relief from the maroon ground. Nearly square format.

Lincrusta-Walton (England), 1881–1882
painted and gilded lincrusta-walton.
Gift of John Davison Rockefeller, Jr..
1937-57-3

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 4 images of this object.

Anglo-Japanesque design. Full width of a paper giving nearly two full repeats of a design composed of larger and smaller enframed motifs: views of Brooklyn Bridge (opened 1883), Niagara Falls, a ferry slip, a Western road, and vases and jars. Printed in greens, browns, red and gold.

Sidewall, Japonaiserie, 1883–85
machine printed on continuous paper.
Gift of Grace Lincoln Temple.
1938-62-18

This object was made by W.N. Peak.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

In photographic half-tone enlargement, the head of cow in twice-life-size dimensions. Design is repeated vertically. Printed in coral and black on deep blue background.

Sidewall, Cow, 1971
screen printed on paper.
Gift of Andy Warhol.
1980-69-1

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 6 images of this object.

Contains 3 different designs, "Mur" (Wall), "Marbre 1" (Marble l) and "Marbre ll" (Marble ll). Each design is presented in multiple colorways. Three color photos show each different design in situ. This book also includes 20 samples of plain colors along with multiple illustrations showing variety of ways paper can be installed.

Sample Book, Le Corbusier, 1959
machine printed on machine-made paper.
Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. Jerome Meyers and from Estate of....
2002-21-1-1/54

This object was made by Salubra.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 18 images of this object.

"Ridde satin blanc." On rust-colored flock ground, simulated draped white fabric or drapery on each of two wallpaper panels. Fabric panels suspended between golden horizontal rods, cinched in centers with golden medallions, with masks, from which hang tassels. Neoclassic figures rising from oak foliage, bearing cornucopias and flowers, spaced between "fabric" panels. Golden leaf decorations bordering white "fabric."

Sidewall (France), 1810–12
block printed and flocked on handmade paper.
Gift of Harvey Smith.
1968-111-1

This object was made by Dufour et Leroy.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Two identical panels, produced by Reveillon. Two arabesque designs with personification of Spring printed in grisaille with pink inset cameos. Rose bouquet-filled vessels fitted with satyr's mask handles. Printed on turquoise ground.

Sidewall, Le Printemps from Les Quatre Saisons, ca. 1785
block-printed on handmade paper.
Museum purchase from the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition....
1994-101-12-a,b

This object was made by Jean-Baptiste Réveillon.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 5 images of this object.

Large, spiraled-shaped, flowers that are scattered and vary in size. The flowers are tan with white trim and radiating blue and yellow leaves. The background is tan and covered by irregular green dots. Paper is plaster embossed.

Sidewall (France), 1928–29
machine printed on paper.
Gift of Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz.
2010-31-42

This object was made by J. Grantil Company.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Brilliant stylized floral design, with large-scale pink flowers within background design of darker pink foliage. The center of each flower is a gold swirl.

Sidewall (France), 1928–29
machine printed on paper.
Gift of Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz.
2010-31-127

This object was made by J. Grantil Company.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Architectural design of a coffered or relief design. Octagon shape defined by a molding enclosing an octagon egg-and-dart frame. Center shows a hexagonal rosette. Printed in sepia tones.

Sidewall - Sample (USA), 1906–08
machine-printed paper.
Gift of Dorwin L. Starr.
1985-19-34

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.

Cluster of red poppy flowers, set within dense foliage. Printed in shades of red on red ingrain paper.

Sidewall - Sample (USA), 1906–08
machine-printed on ingrain paper.
Gift of Dorwin L. Starr.
1985-19-84

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Photographically captured panel of drywall, marked with graphite and prepped with joint compound. This is one panel from a series of ten, each slightly different.

Sidewall, Drywall #1, 2013
inkjet print on nylon reinforced paper.
Gift of Urs Fischer.
2014-37-1

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 5 images of this object.

Repeating design of a pair of red cherries, connected by a stem. Printed in shades of red on a green Mylar-foil ground. The red pigments contain microencapsulated oils scented with a cherry fragrance. This is the scratch and sniff version, can also be purchased without the scent.

Sidewall, Cherry Forever, 2007
screenprinted, microencapsulated scented oils.
Gift of Flavor Paper and Michael Angelo.
2007-36-1

This object was made by Flavor Paper.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.

Seven panels of non-repeating nursery or children's border. Sheets one and two are composed entirely of running dogs. The remaining sheets contain horse-drawn carriages and more dogs. Printed in colors on brown ingrain paper.

Frieze, The "Hunting" Frieze, 1905
block printed on ingrain paper.
Gift of Standard Coated Products.
1975-2-5-a/g

This object was made by Arthur Sanderson & Sons, Ltd..
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Wallpaper panel showing full length view of George Washington in cutaway coat with epaulettes and a sword. At his feet are a conventionalized cannon and three cannon balls. All supported by shallow circular base. Imitation of statuary. Of the series "America's Heroes" [Les Grands Hommes] which also includes Franklin, Lafayette and Jefferson. Printed on light wood grain background.

Ornament - Panel, Les Grands Hommes, 1856–57
block-printed on paper.
Gift of Dr. Gertrude Bilhuber in memory of her father Ernst Bilhuber.
1949-78-1

This object was made by Jules Desfossé.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

On blue-gray ground, stylized imitation of drapery with horizontal geometric patterning in black, gray and beige.

Sidewall, Kairo, 1928
machine printed on paper.
Gift of Harrison Cultra.
1971-62-6

This object was made by Maria Likarz-Strauss.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

On blue shiny, irregularly black-dotted ground, cut stone imitation - possibly marble - with orange, brown, and yellow veining.

H# 627

Sidewall (France), 1800–1835
block-printed on handmade paper.
Gift of Josephine Howell.
1972-42-206-a,b

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 5 images of this object.

Large-scale window shade printed in imitation of lace. Suspended from a cornice, with a voided center containing a basket of flowers and two tassels, the bottom of the lace curtain is trimmed with a bullion fringe and tassels. Printed on brilliant blue background. Verso is printed same blue color.

Window Shade (USA), 1875–1900
machine printed on paper.
Gift of Norman Hasselriis.
1980-45-6

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Frank Lloyd Wright design of imitation stained glass in black, taupe, olive and lilac on a beige ground.

Sidewall, Design 105, 1957
screenprinted on paper.
Gift of Suzanne Lipschutz.
1991-89-201

This object was made by F. Schumacher & Co..
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Panel of imitation leather paper with heraldic shield printed near top edge. Shield is enclosed within ribbon and floral wreath. Red and brown shield, green ribbon and blue flowers, hand-printed on brown paper embossed to resemble leather.

Ornament Panel (USA), 1910–15
block-printed, glazed, embossed paper.
Gift of Mary Kate Conrad.
2012-14-1

This object was made by M.H. Birge & Sons Co..
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.

Alternating horizontal rows of clusters of daisies and other flowers. Printed in yellow, red and white, with flecks of green, on cream ground.

Sidewall, Daisy, 1862
block-printed on paper.
Gift of Cowtan & Tout, Inc..
1935-23-7

This object was made by Jeffrey & Company.
This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.