THE COLONIAL PERIOD
The furniture made in America during the eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries was reproduced from English models and shows the
influence of Chippendale, Sheraton, Heppelwhite and the Adam brothers.
For those interested in these early types of American output, the Sage
and other collections in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, give a
delightful object lesson, and there has been much written on the
subject in case any data is desired.
If some of our readers own heirlooms and plan reproducing Colonial
interiors of the finest type, we would advise making an effort to see
some of the beautiful New England or Virginia homes, which remain
quite as they were in the old days; fine square rooms with hand-carved
woodwork, painted white, their walls panelled in wood and painted the
same white. Into these panels were set hand-painted wall paper. The
authors saw some made for a house in Peabody, near Salem,
Massachusetts, some time between 1760 and 1800, and were amazed to
find that the colours were as vivid as when first put on.
Here let us say that the study of interior decoration throws a strong
light on the history of walls. In Gothic days the stone or wood of the
feudal hall was partially concealed by tapestries,--the needlework of
the women of the household, a record of the gallant deeds of men used
as interior decoration. Later of course, the making of tapestries
became a great industry in Italy, France and Belgium, an industry
patronised by kings and the nobility, and subsidised by governments.
Next we have walls sheathed with wood panelling. Then during the late
Renaissance, painted portraits were let into these panels and became a
part of the walls. Later, the upper half, or two-thirds of the
panelling, was left off, and only a low panelling, or "dado,"
remained. This, too, disappeared in time.
Landscape paper was the bridge between the panelled walls with
pictures built into them, and the painted or papered walls with
pictures hung on them. The paper which we have already referred to, is
one of the finest examples of its kind, and while there is only enough
for one side of a room, it is valued at $5,000. The design is eight
feet high, each strip 22 inches wide, and there are eighteen of the
original twenty strips. Two breaks occur, numbers 16 and 18. The owner
believes that the Puritan attitude of her ancestors caused them to
destroy the panels which showed nude figures engaged in battle. This
paper is now the property of Mrs. Eliza Brown of Salem, Massachusetts.
It was found in her grandfather's attic in Gloucester, and was given
to Mrs. Brown by her grandmother. It was in an army chest belonging to
Judutham Baldwin, a Colonel of Engineers in the Revolutionary Army,
who laid out the forts in Boston Harbour.
Kate Sanborn, in her book on "Old Wall Papers" speaks of this
particular paper. "Paper from the Ham House at Peabody, Massachusetts,
now occupied by Dr. Worcester. Shows tropical scenes. These scenes are
quite similar to those of the Pizarro paper and may have been the
work of the same designer." (The so-called "Pizarro in Peru" paper is
shown in plate 34 and 35 of the same book, and is in Duxbury, Mass.)
Pizarro's invasion of Peru was in 1531. The colouring of Mrs. Brown's
paper is white background with foliage in vivid greens, while figures
of Peruvians wear costumes of brilliant blues and vermillion reds, a
striking contrast to their soft, brown skins.
This paper is now in the market, but let us hope it may finally rest
in a museum.