Hamilton Weston Wallpapers

Interior designer Georgina Hamilton and architectural historian Robert Weston founded Hamilton Weston Wallpapers in 1981 to focus on reproducing historic wallpapers in both their original and contemporary colourways. ‘We have always been particularly enthusiastic about historical designs, their origins and provenance and the motifs and colour combinations used,’ says Georgina. ‘We also love to create new wallpaper designs to commission – from artefacts brought to us by our clients as inspiration for new creations, such as maps, textiles and embroideries.’

The archive is a treasure trove of historic, unusual and period wallpaper fragments covering the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian eras – often discovered as a result of restoration work around the world – and it is these historic papers that form the basis of the company’s own Old Paradise wallpaper collection, recreated from original documents. The earliest design in the collection, the quirky Lambeth Saracen, dates back to 1690; the most recent is the 1960 On The Edge, which was produced for The Edge of Reason, the sequel film to Bridget Jones’ Diary. In fact, Hamilton Weston Wallpapers can frequently be seen on the big screen: recent film releases in which they feature include Darkest Hour, Mary Poppins Returns and Red Joan, starring Judi Dench. (Its wallpapers will also adorn the set of The Good Liar, with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, a thriller due for release in November.)

The company has worked on many interesting projects for museums in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia in recent years, including recreating several 19 th -century French wallpapers for the restoration of Uppark after a fire in 1989, two 18 th -century hand block printed wallpapers for Bath’s historic No 1 Royal Crescent (completed in 2013) and reproducing Sandycombe Trellis for Sandycombe Lodge in Twickenham (built by painter JMW Turner, it is now Turner’s House), from a tiny, discoloured fragment that fluttered down from the loft during building works.

Recent projects include two designs for the Jane Austen Museum in Chawton, Hampshire, created from fragments found in the Austen family cottage. Hamilton Weston Wallpapers is currently in the process of reproducing a third design for the museum: an early 19 th - century leaf wallpaper and decorative border that was discovered in the dining parlour. As a small company Hamilton Weston Wallpapers is particularly happy to provide a bespoke wallpaper service and enjoys close collaboration with interior design clients (it also specialises in original, site-specific wallpapers for special projects). All are printed in the UK using a variety of methods on high-grade papers to achieve the finest results (current printing technology has greatly increased the affordability of more complex designs, where numerous colours may be included within the pattern). In a world of mass-produced wallpapers, Hamilton Weston stands out for the meticulous craft of its handprinted designs, transforming historic wallpaper designs into contemporary works of art.