A History of Chinese Export Wallpaper

The market for Chinese goods started to become popular in Europe from the late 17th century, begun by the increased contact with China through trade with the Portuguese. Then the establishment and development of the East India Company (EIC) and other trading companies created huge demand for luxury goods made in Asia. Europe also sent diplomatic missions to forge links between East and West, which all helped to focus interest on China. Chinese wallpapers and prints seem to have been first imported into the UK in the late 17th century and were at their height of popularity in the mid to late 18th century, when the craze of Chinoiserie took over the West. Helen Gifford notes in her paper Chinese Wallpaper from Canton to Country, ‘Chinese pictures and prints were imported in small quantities first by the Portuguese in the 16th century, and then into France by Dutch traders, towards the end of the 17th century. The earliest precise reference to the import of graphic art from China to England is 1727’.

Spring in the Tea Garden, a scene from a mid-19th century wallpaper

Private Collection