 |
| Via Cole & Son |
I'd plaster it inside and outside my house, and wear it for clothes if I could. I seriously love it. Seriously. So now I shall go forth and spam you with photos of its beauty (and a history lesson).
Cole & Son, a company producing gorgeous wallpapers, is a very special company, with an interesting history.
In 1875, the company was founded by John Perry, of Islington, North London. The company was situated in a wallpaper mill, in an area famous for print blockers, and handmade wallpapers.
While other wallpaper companies began shutting down, John would buy all of their printing blocks, which carried all the popular designs of the time. John passed away in 1940, and his family decided to sell the company, along with the huge archive of printing blocks. This was purchased by A.P. Cole.
Another big decorating company, named Cowtan & Son of Grosvenor Gardens, put their collection of printing blocks up for sale, and Cole bought these too. These blocks' designs had been used to "furnish many stately homes, palaces, castles and theatres throughout Britain and overseas, including the wallpaper designs of A W Pugin for the Palace of Westminster. The amalgamation of the two businesses in 1941 meant that Coles owned the most significant collection of wooden printing blocks in Britain.""Today, the Cole & Son archive consists of approximately 1,800 block print designs, 350 screenprint designs and a huge quantity of original drawings and wallpapers, representing all the styles from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Amongst these are some of the most important historic wallpaper designs in the world. Coles is now the prime source for entirely authentic period wallpapers printed by the original method and has provided wallpapers for many historic houses, including Buckingham Palace and the White House."
 |
| Via StyleState |
 |
| via NibsBlog |
 |
| via Christina Murphy |
 |
| via The Style Files |
