Wallpaper
isn’t as widely used as it used to be, and building standards have improved,
fashions have changed, and paint has become more popular for walls.
The Chinese
are said to have invented wallpaper, using rice paper on walls as far back as
the Qin dynasty, and wallpaper itself was supposedly invented by a court
official named Tsai Lun in 105 B.C. and was a mixture of mulberry bark, bamboo
fibres, linen and hemp.
Wallpaper
made its way over to Europe in the 15th century with prints or designs made
with woodblocks and coloured by hand. These were popular as a cheap alternative
to tapestries, and concealed cracks and improved insulation in much the same
way. Often their designs resembled expensive materials such as leather, brocade
or wood, with flock wallpaper making an appearance in the early 1600s. Paper
was initially pinned to the walls by copper tacks, a system that continued well
into the 18th century. Borders were introduced in the late 1700s to alter a
room’s visual proportions, and it became popular to divide walls using dado
rails (from floor to chair height), and friezes (a horizontal band at the
ceiling).
In 1675, a
Frenchman and engraver named Jean-Michel Papillon made the first repeating
designs that matched on both sides. It not only repeated, but also was
continuous from one sheet to the next, and he is credited as being the inventor
of wallpaper as it is known today. The introduction of seamed wallpaper in
huge, 12-yard rolls meant that manufacturers could move from simple repeated
designs into vast panoramas, often depicting mythological or historical events
such as the destruction of Pompeii, or scenes of faraway lands. They were
considered to be educational tools for the ignorant masses, and in wealthy
homes, panoramic wallpapers supposedly reflected their owners’ educated status.
Now the
sinister bit
Swedish
chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele invented the first arsenic green pigment in 1775.
The brightness and stability of Scheele’s green—along with different variations
such as emerald and Vienna green—made them instant successes. Chemists and
paint makers introduced arsenic to other colours as well, such as canary
yellow, to create vibrant new hues. In 1889, a designer named Walter Crane
created a wallpaper called The Peacock Garden, which contained arsenic-based
Scheele’s green, and research into Crane’s work and arsenic-based pigments
revealed some interesting insights. In 1875 Crane created wallpaper designs for
Jeffrey & Co., one of the leading wallpaper printers in England. The
company, along with other companies, utilised arsenic-based colours for their
products in the early to mid-19th century. However, by the time of The Peacock
Garden’s printing in 1889, the general public knew of arsenic’s dangers and
sought safer alternatives.
Unfortunately, the walls were not the only place arsenic lurked in Victorian homes. In 19th-century England people considered small doses of arsenic safe and used it for wildly diverse products, from face powder to rat poison. It was added into food, textiles, medicine, and other common goods, so its use in wallpaper was not considered unusual. Interestingly, Edinburgh’s Mary King Close, now an underground tourist attraction buried beneath the famous Royal Mile, was sealed off from the world in 1630. After the plague passed through Edinburgh, Mary King’s Close and other streets in the local area began to decay, transforming into dilapidated, overcrowded places, but it still has rooms with arsenic on the walls that you are not permitted to visit to this day.
Despite its
vivid and eye-catching nature, doctors eventually discovered that arsenical
wallpaper could kill. The ink often flaked off the paper and was inhaled by
those nearby, while moisture, abrasion, or heat caused the release of toxic
vapours. Increasing reports of mysterious illnesses and deaths of small
children or even entire families gained attention in the mid-19th century, but
it wasn’t until the late 1860s that doctors connected those maladies with the
presence of luminous green paper on the walls.
Public
awareness about the dangers of Scheele's green paint, especially for children,
made people seek safer wallpaper options – but thankfully wallpapers’ demise
today isn’t so tragic!
Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man.
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