Works on Paper
Zechariah Mills (Manufacturer)
Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, Connecticut River Valley, United States, North America
1802-1807
Tempera; Paper (laid); Paper; Cloth
Woodblock
1969.0747
Object Number1969.0747 |
Wall covering (Wallpaper fragments)
Works on Paper
Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont
Zechariah Mills (Manufacturer)
08/08/1770-10/10/1851
References: Elmer D. Keith, "An American wallpaper discovery," Antiques 62 (September 1952): 216-7; Phyllis Kihn, "Zecheriah [sic] Mills, Paper Hanging Manufacturer of Hartford, 1793-1816," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin 26 (January 1961): 21-31; Nylander, Wallpaper in New England, pp. 21-3, no. 16, pp. 78-80.
According to Nylander, Wallpaper in New England (p. 79), Mills is "credited with being one of the earliest American wallpaper manufacturers who systematically marked his products." He advertised in the Connecticut Courant on February 18, 1793 (in his first year of business with Thomas Smith Webb as Webb & Mills), that each roll of his wallpaper would be marked with his firm's name "to prevent impositions." An example of his stamp, 1802-7, which has the pattern number and firm name within a circle surmounted by an eagle, is illustrated in Nylander as fig. I-20, p. 23.
Many of Mills' marked papers feature patterns copied from English examples. It is also known Mills imported materials from Boston, and papers from Philadelphia and New York.
In addition to paper hangings, Mills (on his own and in his various partnerships) also advertised he made and sold traveling and other trunks, as well as books and stationary (following move to Main Street in 1803), and dry goods (as Mills & Danforth).
Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, Connecticut River Valley, United States, North America
1802-1807
Tempera; Paper (laid); Paper; Cloth
Woodblock
28.75 (H) , 43 (W) , 11.375 (Repeat Height)
73.025 (H) , 109.22 (W) , 28.893 (Repeat Height)
OH and OW of the larger fragment. Measurements of the other: OH 24.5 in. (62.23 cm); OW 39.875 in. (101.3 cm). Individual sheet H and W could not be determined. Chain intervals and laid lines per cm not measured.
Text available soon.
[Book] Nylander, Richard C., et al. 1986 Wallpaper in New England: selections from the Preservation of New England Antiquities. 283 p.
• For identical paper from the Daniel Hough House, see fig. 16.2, p. 80. This paper also has a virtually identical border, as does a French neoclassical paper installed in the James De Wolf House in Bristol, Rhode Island, see fig. 16-2, p. 88.
[Chapter] Cummings, Abbott Lowell. "The Use and Manufacture of Wallpaper in New England 1700-1820" [Book] Nylander, Richard C., et al. 1986 Wallpaper in New England: selections from the Preservation of New England Antiquities. 283 p. 3-27.
• For information on Zechariah Mills, see pp. 21-3.