Bolling & Company

We are participating in the Arts & Crafts Collector conference in August as an exhibitor (along with many other fabulous exhibitors). Bo Sullivan will be leading a small group discussion on August 6th at 10 AM PT, "Shopping for Arts & Arts & Crafts Wallpaper, 1907 - 1910".

FALLING IN LOVE WITH WALL PAPER - 1909

This 1909 postcard would have been purchased and imprinted by wall paper retail stores to promote their goods. The quirky scene has an impeccably dressed cupid marketing a paper featuring stripes of yellow roses to a young couple seemingly on a decorating date. Shopping hand in hand, it is nonetheless clear who is in charge here. Wall paper was often sold in the same stores as paint, and we can see exterior house colors and stacks of paint cans in the background. The wood sample book stand was the primary selling vehicle for papers at this time, though it looks like a large portfolio and several rolls of paper have been stuffed behind it. An odd Art Nouveau-inspired motif fills the edges of the scene, showing the subtle influence of this style in the US, which was present between about 1900 and 1915, but never really took hold like it did in other places.

Pay us a visit and maybe Wallpaper Cupid will lead you to fall in love with one of our rare survivors!