The history of wallpapers began in China in the 200 BC. Rice paper was invented that time and people started to hang it on the walls in their houses.
Englishmen brought this idea from China to Europe. They were the first manufacturers. For a long time they were copying Chinese wallpapers, however, sometimes they changed images on the more native ones. It is a known fact that in the year 1481 Louis XXI ordered to pay 24 livres to the court artist for drawing pietist images on 50 rolls of paper. Later on England took a leading position in the wallpaper manufacturing.
The period of paper wallpapers prosperity is considered to be the second half of XVIII century.
In Russia paper wallpapers were popular in Moscow because at that time it was fashionable to use relatively cheap imitative materials to decorate private mansions and villas.
People who were used to the beauty of textile wallpapers wanted paper wallpapers to have the same high quality. However, the technology didn’t allow that – image quality was much worse and it took a lot of time to draw images with patterns. Hand drawing was very expensive.
The next step in the development of wallpaper industry was introduction of hand printing with blocks. Inks were applied on the pattern, then paper was put on it and pressed with special roller. This method was used in China already in the X century, but only in the XIV century it appeared in Europe. The most important fact in the wallpaper industry is considered to be Louis Robert invention in 1799. He created a paper-making machine that started to wind paper in rolls of stated length. In England, the country supposed to be the leader in paper manufacturing, manufacturers paid tax on each roll, ie production in rolls was not profitable for the government at all.
Only after 40 years Englishman U.Preston who was working as printer decided one can print wallpapers on the machine for printing fancy cloth. He was the first to apply rollers for printing image.
Invention of Louis Robert appeared in Russia only in the first part on the XIX century. Paper wallpapers were presented in mansions in 1632, however, they were bought abroad or manufactured by rule of thumb in reach country houses by bonds.
In the end of the XVIII century construction works were very common in Russia. A lot of mansions, villas were build, the demand on new decorative materials increased. It was fashionable to use not only textiles, art and natural marble, gold wood carving, bronze and crystal, but also paper wallpapers. Paper-making and wallpaper industries developed, in 1795 Moscow wallpapers started to be on the market.
Patterned wallpapers became popular in the second half of XIX century. Patterns not only enriched the walls, but also made the ceiling look higher, wall farther from each other, changed proportions of the building.
Machines made wallpapers cheap and available. Wallpapers finally found its customers. Wallpapers were printed by metal cylinders, processes were mechanized and wallpaper machines started to work on electrical power.
Very famous construction of that time where paper wallpapers are preserved in the best way is in the palace of count Shermetev in Ostankino. They were used to decorate walls in living rooms and show rooms – picture gallery, theatre, Italian pavilion and adjoining cabinets. Images are very impressive: flower compositions, arabesques, personages of antic mythology, borders and friezes with plant and geometrical designs, wallpapers that imitate marble of different colours, granite, porphyry, malachite, molding of ceilings and friezes, gold wood carving.
They were hanged on the walls like espaliers, pictures were made from different fragments, wooden columns were reverted and door wings decorated.
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