Atelier Boulard

This printed paper, known as Dominos, is among the earliest examples of wallpaper. It could either be pasted sheet by sheet onto a wall or could serve smaller-scale purposes as endpapers for books or linings for wardrobes, drawers, or boxes. Because it could be printed in quantity, it was a less expensive decorative wall treatment than the traditional textiles or paintings. Initially, it tended to serve as ornament in humble settings. By the turn of the 18th century, however, Dominos had evolved into valued decorative papers used by every social class.

Much of the inspiration for patterned Dominos came from printed cotton textiles imported from India and China, primarily through French Mediterranean ports. The exotic foliage of the Museum’s Dominos recalls Indian chintz textiles. When a number of Dominos were pasted to the wall, they mimicked rooms decorated entirely with fabric. Such “chintz rooms” were fashionable in the early 18th century, but because the fabric was imported and often heavily taxed, French-produced paper provided a reasonably priced alternative. Single-sheet Dominos adorned walls until continuous rolls of printed paper were developed and sold in the late 18th century by large manufacturing firms.