With the skilful interplay of historical patterns in new colour schemes, the English paint and wallpaper manufacturer Little Greene is once again creating very special wallpapers in its National Trust Papers IV collection.
Once again, Little Greene has worked with the National Trust, the UK's largest charitable organisation dedicated to preserving historic buildings and gardens in the UK and making them accessible to the public. The organisation acquires buildings whose owners are financially unable to maintain them. The National Trust currently owns well over 300 buildings, including churches, castle ruins and large, well-preserved castles and country estates, such as Basildon Park Country House to the west of London.
Basildon Park Country House to the west of London is one of the National Trust's properties
Ruth Mottershead, the creative director of Little Greene, has ensured that historical wallpaper motifs and murals from the often listed rooms have found their way onto Little Greene's wallpapers. A few subtle modernisations, whether in the colour scheme or the size of the pattern, give the designs, which are often over 200 years old, a new relevance for today's interior design.
The patterns in detail:
Aderyn
In the late 18th century, the Erddig estate in Wales served as a family residence for Philip Yorke and his wife Elizabeth. They were probably the ones who chose the hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, ornately decorated with exquisite birds and flowers, for a guest room around 1770. The original design is characterised by its filigree design.
The flowers, including magnolias (representing feminine beauty) and peonies (symbolising grandeur), were carefully taken from the original by Little Greene and transformed into a versatile, contemporary bird and flower pattern.
Aderyn wallpaper by Little Greene
Capricorn
The wallpaper revives a mural from the early 19th century. Carefully redrawn by hand by Little Greene, it shows idealised landscapes that were considered romantic or exotic at the time. Spread over three panels, this contemporary interpretation presents an opulent panorama populated by monkeys and tropical birds.
Capricorn wallpaper by Little Greene
Burges Butterfly
The original of this delightful floral wallpaper adorned the walls of the boudoir of Knightshayes Court country house in Devon and was designed by William Burges (1827-1881), one of the most important architects of the English Gothic Revival. It is clearly linked to another wallpaper from the same period, the Burges Snail wallpaper, which was also carefully modernised by Little Greene.
Burges Butterfly wallpaper by Little Greene
Bamboo Floral
The pattern is inspired by fragments of 18th century Chinese wallpaper discovered on the Kingston Lacy estate in Dorset. It remains unclear whether the design was actually used in the house. In this era, imported Chinese wallpapers were very popular with the English aristocracy. Craftsmen cut out individual elements and arranged them on panels to create a panorama-like impression. It is possible that Bamboo Floral is a remnant of this work.
This design has been skilfully transformed by Little Greene into a repetitive pattern for contemporary interiors. The colour variations also set modern accents.
Bamboo Floral wallpaper by Little Greene
Spring Flowers
Standen House in West Sussex is considered an outstanding example of an Arts & Crafts house in England. It was designed by Philip Webb and the interior was decorated with designs by William Morris. The design from around 1910 is characterised by stylised spring blossoms. The surviving original is in a monochrome colour scheme of blue and white.
The reinterpretation by Little Greene uses bold colour variations as well as neutral tones.
Spring Flower wallpaper from Little Greene
Great Ormond Street
The colourful parrot motif comes from the Little Greene archive. It was reinterpreted for the National Trust Papers IV collection. The motif was originally discovered in London on the ground floor of an 18th century house opposite Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. The design was already produced as a paper wallpaper in the 19th century.
Great Ormond Street wallpaper by Little Greene
Mosaic Trail
Little is known about the history of this elegant floral wallpaper, but it probably dates back to the Aestheticism period in the late 19th century. The pattern imitates a tiled mosaic and gives the room a charming effect. The design has been faithfully reproduced by Little Greene.
Great Mosaic Trail wallpaper by Little Greene
Ditsy Block
The original of this floral wallpaper was found in Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk. It was probably produced using the wood block printing process around 1900. Little Greene attaches great importance to ensuring that the look of the modernised version of this wallpaper retains the visual appeal of the original.
Ditsy Block wallpaper by Little Greene
In addition to the fourth collaboration between Little Greene and the National Trust on wallpaper, Little Greene is also working with the organisation on its paint products. The result is the current Sweet Treats colour collection.
Picture Sources: Little Greene (Teaser), GiacomoReturned/Wikipedia, Little Greene