The original layered and detailed pattern of Mandarin Garden taken from a V&A archive fabric has been replicated by surface printing to create a beautiful painterly effect wallpaper in soft tones of mist blue. The Chinese garden scene features a paddling mandarin duck amongst ripples of water glimpsed through a canopy of stylised trees and tropical flowers with a pagoda nestled in the distance.
Available in 4 colours: Mist, Coral, Ink and Jade
Mandarin Garden archive inspiration: Furnishing fabric, F.W. Grafton & Co., Lancashire, 1923
This pattern is by Lancashire-based textile manufacturer, F.W. Grafton & Co. Produced in 1923, the original printed cotton has its roots in traditional wallpaper and textile designs from East Asia. The romantic view of a Chinese landscape with scenes of birds, water and plant motifs is very much in the style of a classic chinoiserie, but the Art Deco inspired blooms make it easy to identify as British. Designers in the 1920s often looked to the East for inspiration and motifs such as ducks, pheasants and pagodas were used to give an ‘exotic’ feel to otherwise familiar-looking designs.