Papers from Peking: Chinese Wallpaper 1700-2000

Chinese Wallpapers create an extraordinary visual and with their exquisitely painted largescale designs they blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality, the extraordinary and the mundane.  They first appeared in Britain in the early 1700s and quickly took fashionable society by storm. Their exotic subject matter, rich colours and fine details were far superior to other wallpapers of the time and their non-repeating designs of landscapes or Chinese life formed a dazzling panorama that ran all around the room.

Joanna Banham

Jo Banham is a freelance curator, lecturer and writer. From 2006-2016 she was Head of Adult Learning at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and before that held similar senior educational positions at the National Portrait Gallery and at Tate Britain. She has been Curator of Leighton House and Assistant Keeper at the Whitworth Art Gallery. She has published on many aspects of Victorian and early 20th century decoration, and curated exhibitions on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Madrid and Barcelona. Jo is now writing a book on the history of wallpaper.

Image:Wallpaper, China. Marquis and Marchioness of Normanby Bedrooms, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, 1700-1800. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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