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Document Details : Title: Pronkpapier Subtitle: Decoratieprenten als balkbehang in 16de-eeuwse interieurs van Antwerpse woonhuizen Author(s): MACLOT, Petra Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 41 Date: 2019 Pages: 1-23 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.41.0.3286028 Abstract : Literature and archival documents do not offer much information on the early stages of the use of paper in the domestic interior, which has left that aspect of both the art of printing and historic interior decoration an unexplored subject. In Antwerp, however, building archaeological investigation has brought to the surface a number of cases of unexpected use and reuse of printed sheets employed for papering ceilings as early as the 16th century. This article presents an overview of ongoing research into this particular use of these products, their manufacturers and consumers, in one of the first and famous centres of the printing business. In Germany and Switzerland cases of 16th-century lining papers – especially imitations of maple wood-grain – and their application on ceilings have been published from the 1970s on. In the course of three decades since the first discovery in Antwerp in 1978, seven cases have been documented within that same city. Ceiling papers with two matching sheets, single-sheet multipurpose lining papers and even misprints demonstrate how printed paper was used for decorating the beams of rooms in the homes of shopkeepers and small merchants in Antwerp around the mid-16th century. Designs vary from the simple to the sophisticated, including moresque and arabesque patterns, stylised flowers and leaves, and grotesques, for both general and specific use. All cases concern woodblock prints in black and white, mostly painted by hand in bright colours or partly stencilled, using metal or plant based watercolours. The careful collection of even the tiniest of fragments not only made it possible to reassemble the patterns, but also to produce reconstructions of how the decoration may have looked in situ. In some cases, parts of mural paintings even illustrated the further spatial context of the room, thereby offering some interesting new insights into the introduction of paper decoration in the habitat of the citizenry. Two finds in the Netherlands and one in Sweden suggest the export of lining and ceiling papers produced in towns such as Antwerp. The status of paper as a valuable material for the interior is illustrated by the case of a magnificent elite dwelling with a ceiling decorated with presumably cartapesta elements. Despite the available literature, paper as a sophisticated form of decoration has not generated much interest, even among professional building historians. Due to a lack of knowledge of the subject, valuable information has eluded attention, thus resulting in the unnoticed disappearance of fascinating artefacts and an imperfect assessment of historic interiors. The author hopes to persuade researchers to look out henceforth for these fragile traces and to carefully document and collect the scraps that can demonstrate the colourful domestic interiors of almost 500 years ago. |
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