Wallpapers
from the Archive
Gobelin Decoration
During the Golden Age of woodblock printed wallpaper, the flower painter to Louis XVI Joseph-Laurent Malaine, created this stunning masterpiece of exquisite color and detail to bring the style and design of the Gobelin tapestries to wallpaper. Noted for the superior technical skill of master wood carvers and master woodblock printers, this set was printed in 1904 for the Centennial celebration of the Louisiana Purchase at the St. Louis exhibition, and is in near mint condition.
The panel is made up of five strips with the trompe l’oiel border printed on each strip. The overall height of the panel is approximately 8 ft. 4 in, and the panel covers approximately 12 ft. 6 5/8 in of wall. Additional strips available.
Price: $15,000.00.
Panorama Japonais
The 1920s provided an explosion of interest in scenic wallpapers, particularly in America, and post war peace fueled availability and a variety of themes, with a trend toward the exotic. Exquisitely dressed figures stroll against a low Japanese landscape, printed on a spectacular orange shaded sunset sky. The complete set of 10 strips is in mint condition, rare and out of print. Jean Zuber’s chop is printed on each strip, numbered both in arabic and Japanese.
The scene is made up of 10 strips, the first joins with the last allowing placement of design, each strip is 18 inches wide, with the highest part of the design 4 feet 8 inches, and a set covers approximately 15 feet of wall. Additional strips available.
Price: $10,000.00.
Classic Landscape
In the early 19th century, Jean Zuber designed this classic, formal garden landscape. This handsome antique set is in rich coffee and sepia colors on a sepia background. The set is fragile and distressed, with some tears and creases, most of which can be restored and hung successfully. It is of mixed runs of an excellent match.
The scene is made up of six strips each 21 inches wide, with the highest part of the design 4 feet 5 inches, and a set covers approximately 10 feet 6 inches of wall. Additional strips available.
Price: $3,000.00.
Panier Fleurie
This charming multicolor tree of life features an abundance of flowers, birds, butterflies and basket of flowers, printed on a crisp white background. It is a 1930 edition, in mint condition, rare and out of print. The set is made up of five strips each 18 ½ inches wide, with the highest part of the design 7 feet, and the set overs approximately 7 feet 8 inches of wall.
Price: $5,000.00.
Boucher Tapestry
During the mid to late 18th century, it was fashionable to decorate smaller, second homes outside of the city, with wallpapers evoking the forest and open countryside. Francois Boucher noted for his pastoral paintings, was director of the Gobelin tapestry factory and principal designer for Reveillon. The complete set of his tapestry inspired wallpaper has been long gone. These remaining four strips are extension strips, masterfully designed so that two strips may be joined on either side of each other to extend the coverage of the wallpaper. Shown, are the two strips repeating to create this four strip panel. The design is printed on textured paper further enhancing the feeling of tapestry, and the close, woodland scene is ideal as a four panel screen or with additional strips to extend coverage as a background wallpaper behind furniture.
The panel is in excellent condition with light distress and few imperfections.
Each strip is 19 in. wide, 10 ft. long with the highest part of the design 71 in., and the panel covers approximately 6 ft. 4 in. of wall. Additional strips available.
Price: $4,000.00.
About Us
A. L. Diament & Co. was established by Albert L. Diament in Philadelphia in 1885, and is the oldest continuing wallpaper company in America. The company quickly became the area’s premier decorating firm and the country’s leading manufacturer and importer of wallpaper and fine furnishings, providing America’s most prestigious decorators with the finest Europe and America had to offer.
Diament developed personal relationships as the sole exclusive agent for the great manufacturers in France, compiling an archive of extraordinary examples of textiles and wallpapers spanning four generations and documenting nearly two centuries of decorative art.
Included in the archive is a collection of antique, French, woodblock printed scenic wallpapers, as they were received from the manufacturer, many in mint condition, others in varying condition having suffered the indignities of tears, creases and mildew from being safely hidden away during the wars in Europe. Some of these papers are the last and only examples of their kind remaining in the world today. All the papers offered from the archive have never been hung and are suitable for hanging, even those in the most fragile condition. Professional restoration and installation is recommended.
The Showroom
Take a glimpse into our past as a prestigious retail establishment.
Woodblock Printing
In France as early as the 16th century, Henri IV supported the fashion of using wallpaper to replace tapestries and other wall hangings. Woodblock printing replaced stencil patterns in the mid 18th century, and with the invention to manufacture continuous rolls of paper, factories were able to employ the finest artists and master carvers to produce a vast array of stunning scenic wallpapers.
