Fabulous 'Fancy' Papers

As we get closer to our moving date we're busy in the collections stores putting away the final few objects in their rightful places. During this process I've come across some familiar objects, and some less familiar. I'd never seen these paper samples before, but they immediately become some of my favourite objects in the collections.

Just look at those colours and patterns! Some of them look so modern it's difficult to believe they aren't contemporary. Their dinky size also adds to their appeal (they're smaller than A4) and marks them out as being quite different to the other wallpaper samples in our collections.

They are in fact 'fancy' papers (isn't that a great name?) They were made for temporary interiors, display and wrapping purposes, rather than for papering the walls of people's homes. Which is probably just as well - as much as I love them, I'm not sure I could handle waking up to walls covered in one of these!

They all date from around the 1920s and were produced by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd, who specialised in these so-called 'fancy' papers.




The bold colours of these, combined with the graphic designs look remarkably 1980s to me.



This one is a rather more subdued affair in beautiful greens and blues with an ethereal quality creating quite a sophisticated effect.

What do you make of them? Do they appeal to you as much as they do to me? Let us know in the comments!