Explore London Wallpapers V

Spanning 250 years of interior decoration (from 1690 to the mid 20th century), ‘London Wallpapers V’ is a compendium of authentic heritage designs, each one sensitively remodelled and expertly coloured for the 21st century home.

With one exception, the 11 designs in the collection are based on fragments stored in the wallpaper archive at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, which were removed and preserved during the conservation of 18th and 19th century London houses.

The exception is a first for Little Greene – the original design still hangs on the walls at Brodsworth Hall, an elegant and faithfully conserved Victorian country house in South Yorkshire.

The oldest source material for London Wallpapers V actually pre-dates wallpaper: a decorative piece of leather from 1690 that would have been displayed as a hanging mural rather than glued to a wall. Other remnants include hand-blocked damasks, delicate neoclassical fragments, hand-stencilled patterns and authentic designs from the Georgian and Arts & Crafts periods.

London Wallpapers V introduces four previously unseen designs and amalgamates seven popular patterns from London Wallpapers II and III, which have been updated with the addition of 15 fresh colourways.

Brook Street c.1895 – 5 colourways

In entirely different eras, two neighbouring houses in Mayfair’s fashionable Brook Street were homes to the baroque composer George Frideric Handel and rock musician Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix spent some of his short-lived musical career in a flat at No. 23, the same property from which this pattern hails. The woven cane-like design is typical of the late 19th century: an all-over pattern, which sits on a lightly brushed ground and incorporates a soft texture within its motif.

St James’s Park c.1940 – 4 colourways

This large damask pattern was found in Marlborough House, next to St James’s Park, a grand abode designed by Christopher Wren and home to the Duchess of Marlborough, friend and confidante of Queen Anne. Originally a dark blue flock on a pale blue ground, the paper is believed to be comparatively recent, though the origins of the general design are Victorian (as a wallpaper) and older still (as a silk fabric). The twist in this interpretation is the light-to-dark ombré effect, which puts bolder colour at the base of the wall and lighter above, with the effect of making a space feel taller and lighter than it would with a conventional damask design. It is a panel design, with three panels making up one full repeat.

Lansdowne Walk c.1910 – LWII 1 existing and 4 new colourways

An Arts & Crafts motif in the manner of Voysey, a leading light of the movement who was perhaps more famous as an architect than as a wallpaper designer. Although this colourful wallpaper was removed from a 19th century house in Kensington, its actual design dates it to the early 20th century.

Lower George St c.1810 – LWII 3 existing and 2 new colourways

An abstract paper, which, despite its contemporary appearance, probably dates from the early 1800s when such designs were hugely popular. The original colourway, featuring orangey stars on a pinky-yellow ground, was discovered on an upper floor of a commercial building that had been refaced in the early 19th century but was most probably a much older building.

New Bond Street c.1690 – LWIII 4 existing colourways

Based on one of the oldest surviving documents in the wallpaper archive, this fragment from an embossed leather wall hanging actually predates wallpaper. Panels of embossed and painted leather, usually with a floral pattern, were popular though expensive modes of decoration in the late 16th and 17th centuries. These panels were sewn together to create large-scale decorative hangings, in much the same way that drops of wallpaper are hung side-by-side to create a more impressive statement.