Hand Block Printed Wallpaper
A Craft Rooted In Britain’s Manufacturing Heritage.
The Oldest Form Of Printed Wallpaper Born In The 16th Century.
Hand block printed wallpaper was created by early British printmakers and continues today as a testament to the quality and heritage of a traditional craft.
Block Printing is the oldest printing technique in the world with the earliest surviving prints dated back to the 9th Century, but it took British craftsmanship to utilise this technique for wallpaper. These early wallpapers were created as an alternative to tapestries and wall hangings and were printed entirely in monochrome with colour brushed on laboriously by hand afterwards. The designs available were exclusively damasks and wallpaper could only be found in the homes of the wealthy.
By the 18th Century Britain was the leading wallpaper manufacturer in Europe with all wallpaper hand block printed until 1840 when technological advancements saw the rise of other printing techniques. At this time wallpaper had become a commodity for all and was available in more designs than you could ever think of.
Today this highly skilled and laborious process is renowned for its handmade and traditional quality that sets it apart from the mass produced alternatives. It’s a heritage craft on the endangered list and we are proud to do our bit to keep it alive.
How It’s Made
Still Proudly Handmade To This Day
Colour Mixing
Working with a water based medium every colour we use during the production of our papers is hand mixed to order, starting from scratch with the three primary colours. Each colour is meticulously tested and matched by eye to either our master samples or client samples.
Producing by batch like this we are able to manage a completely customisable service to suit the clients needs. We offer the option of custom colourways for all of our designs as well as being able to work directly with the client to produce colour schemes and samples.
Grounding
Every background colour of our wallpaper has been hand brushed, authentically, like it would have been manufactured back in the 1700’s. The colour is brushed out by hand over the breadth of the paper to create a handmade ground surface which then gets block printed upon.
Printing
Block Printed Wallpaper was first manufactured in England during the 16th Century and it is these same techniques that we still use to manufacture wallpaper today.
In Block Printing a block, engraved with the design repeat, is inked with the printing colour before being pressed down onto the paper to apply the pattern. One colour is applied per block and the blocks are printed on top of each other, laboriously building up the colours and design block by block.
Coating, Trimming & Packing
For the final handmade touch every roll of wallpaper that leaves our workshop is individually hand checked and rolled into 10m rolls.
We offer a hand trimming and coating service per the clients needs, but we do recommend that the wallpaper is coated before leaving the premises as this adds an extra layer of protection to the handmade product.
