One of the most impressive pieces on the Carlton Hobbs booth at the Palm Beach Antiques Fair will be a rare set of Chinese painted wallpapers that formerly hung in Colonial Williamsburg.
Measuring just over 56 feet (17m) long in total the set is a very fine and unusual example of the hand-painted papers made in China exclusively for export to England and America from the late 17th to the 19th Century.
Meticulously painted by hand, each design was unique and therefore an expensive item decorating the houses of the very wealthy. They were rarely pasted directly onto walls, instead they were mounted on silk, canvas or thicker paper. In this way they could easily be moved from room to room.
This particular set was donated to Colonial Williamsburg in 1955 by the estate of Mary Ames Frothingham. They adorned the walls of the Allen-Bryd , or William Byrd III, House (presently the Lightfoot House). Design motifs from this set are still reproduced on china plates for sale at Williamsburg.
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