Design for wallpaper featuring strapwork, rinceaux, and cartouches filled with bouquets of roses 1830 - 1897

Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise designed this wallpaper featuring strapwork, rinceaux, and cartouches filled with bouquets of roses. Although undated, the design speaks to a particular moment in the history of the decorative arts. The elaborate symmetry and the classical motifs of interwoven bands and scrolling foliage are characteristic of French design. Notice how the repeated pattern is broken up by small floral details. Given Lachaise’s birth year of 1897, this design reflects a moment when historical styles were being re-evaluated within the context of modernism. Artists and designers were returning to traditional crafts to resist the alienation of industrial production. As art historians, we might look at design journals and trade publications from this period to understand the cultural values that wallpaper patterns like this one embodied. We would consider the influence of institutions such as design schools and museums in shaping tastes and values.