Christ’s College wallpaper
England’s oldest surviving wallpaper fragment: a pomegranate pattern printed on the back of a royal proclamation.
The fragment was found in the ceiling of the Master’s Lodge at Christ’s College, Cambridge. It shows wallpaper began as a cheap way to imitate woven wall hangings. It remains in the college.
Materials: Paper, black ink
Manufacture: Block-printed in black on recycled paper, after patterns from expensive velvets.
The pomegranate and large leaves, copied from Italian silk velvet.
The pattern printed in black – a cheap imitation of luxury cloth.