Antique wallpaper
My latest obsession...hand printed antique wallpaper. I blame Corey Amaro, I was visiting her and she uttered the fateful words, "I think I might have something you would like", and as she unrolled the paper my pulse quickened and I left with four rolls tucked under my arm (I later used them in my pop up shop).
Last week I hung a few of my favourite rolls on the wall of my atelier, adding gorgeous pops of colour and pattern to inspire me and the sneak peek was picked up by Grace Bonney of Design Sponge, as part of her hashtag challenge #DSwallpaper. It seems that wallpaper is on everyones mind!
On one particularly fruitful days online scavenge for morsels of antique wallpaper I came across a reference to Antoinette Poisson, a Parisian interiors atelier named after the 18th century courtesan Madame de Pompadour. Located on Place de la Bastille. Their beautiful store specialises in handprinted wallpapers which are sold by the sheet or made to order.I would LOVE to visit their studio and watch them work.
The story goes that their namesake, Antoinette Poisson Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, the Marquise de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, was a patron of the decorative arts and a great lover of wallpaper – then all the rage in the middle of the 18th century.
"Dominos reached the height of their popularity in the mid-1700s," notes Jean-Baptiste Martin, one of Antoinette Poisson’s three founders. He and his partners, Vincent Farelly and Julie Stordiau, met as graphic-arts-conservation students in Paris in 2002. After graduating, they joined different preservation studios, and while working on residential projects across Europe, they all reached the same conclusion: Original dominos were an endangered species, and reproductions were in short supply. So in 2012 the friends reunited to form Antoinette Poisson—adopting the middle and maiden names of the 18th-century doyenne of decorative arts Madame de Pompadour." Read more on Architectural Digest
"Of the 14 patterns in the firm’s portfolio, four are reproductions and four are reimaginings of historic dominos; the rest are the trio’s own inventions. "The first layer of each design is the outline printed in black," explains Martin, who, along with Farelly, handles the carving of the blocks. "Then the colors are either hand-stenciled or hand-painted on top." The results are purposely far from uniform. "You can really see the hand of the painter," Martin says. "And we welcome the imperfections. They give the papers their charm." antoinettepoisson.com and johnderian.com"
Jean-Baptiste Martin, Vincent Farelly and Julie Stordiau, the founders of Antoinette Poisson who met as graphic-arts-conservation students in Paris in 2002.
Image credits: House & Beautiful, A Gent of Style