1969.0747 Wallpaper fragments
  • 1969.0747 Wallpaper fragments
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Wall covering (Wallpaper fragments)

  • Category:

    Works on Paper

  • Creator (Role):

    Zechariah Mills (Manufacturer)

  • Place of Origin:

    Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, Connecticut River Valley, United States, North America

  • Date:

    1802-1807

  • Materials:

    Tempera; Paper (laid); Paper; Cloth

  • Techniques:

    Woodblock

  • Museum Object Number:

    1969.0747


  • Complete Details



Object Number

1969.0747

Object Name

Wall covering (Wallpaper fragments)

Category

Works on Paper

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

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).

Place of Origin

Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, Connecticut River Valley, United States, North America

Date

1802-1807

Materials

Tempera; Paper (laid); Paper; Cloth

Techniques

Woodblock

Dimensions (inches)

28.75 (H) , 43 (W) , 11.375 (Repeat Height)

Dimensions (centimeters)

73.025 (H) , 109.22 (W) , 28.893 (Repeat Height)

Measurement Notes

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.

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[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.