which was being gutted and rehabbed, and turned into an art gallery (Currently Verdigris Tea and Gallery).
Some of the oldest papers I have ever found were entombed behind the sheetrock in the stairwell here,
It was somewhat frustrating, though, as most of the papers were original layers, pasted onto either original plaster or wooden plank walls--- a combo that makes them very difficult to remove and save.
Old papers are often very thin, with thick, chalky, brittle inks.
These blue medallions were stuck on the plaster on the side of the room that probably got a lot of sun. The rest of the paper in the pattern had completely deteriorated, but this part of the pattern clung on over the years.
Many of the walls were like big collages in there.
The unabridged album of my photos and wallpaper scans can be found on my flickr page HERE.
Wow,so beautiful.i have a lot of layers at my house and it is so hard to sacrifice a newer paper,for the next one down and so on. its like art restoration.one false move and its gone..and as you say,very hard to seperate them,even with steam.my house predates Hudson.they came down from nantucket,but earlier.Most of the intact and varied examples of papers,are in areas that people didn't bother later to scrape and just papered or painted over,like closets,edges,corners,attic and tight spots.if i go all the way down i get to milkpaint on wood or rather strange feehanded"stenciling".It was originally a sea captain and his sailor sons' house ,so they may have been doing a little tipsy decorating.
ReplyDeleteIts so wonderful you photographed the papers so beutifully.Thank you