Old Time Wall Papers Part 12

Paper on a chamber in the mansion of Governor Gore of Ma.s.sachusetts, at Waltham, Ma.s.sachusetts, erected and decorated in 1802. Medallion pictures in neutral colors, of a cathedral porch, shrine and mountain view, alternating on a stone-wall ground.

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_PLATE XXVII_

PLATE XXVII.

Birds of Paradise and Peac.o.c.ks.

The drawing-room of the Governor Gore Mansion at Waltham, Ma.s.sachusetts, bequeathed by its owner, Miss Walker, to the Episcopal Church for the Bishop's residence. The paper is still in beautiful condition, printed on brownish cream ground in the natural colors of birds and foliage. (p. 75)

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_PLATE XXVIII_

PLATE XXVIII.

Sacred to Was.h.i.+ngton.

Memorial paper in black and gray placed on many walls soon after the death of Was.h.i.+ngton. The example photographed was on a hall and stairway. (p. 88)

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_PLATE XXIX_

PLATE XXIX.

Dorothy Quincy Wedding Paper.

On the Dorothy Quincy house on Hanc.o.c.k Street, at Quincy, Ma.s.s., now the headquarters of the Colonial Dames of Ma.s.sachusetts. It was imported from Paris in honor of the marriage of Dorothy Quincy and John Hanc.o.c.k in 1775, and still hangs on the walls of the large north parlor. Venus and Cupid are printed in blue, the floral decorations in red. The colors are still unfaded. (p. 65)

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_PLATE x.x.x_

_PLATE x.x.xI_

PLATE x.x.x.

The Pantheon.

Mounted fragments rescued from the destruction of the dining-room paper which was on the walls of the King's Tavern or "Waffle Tavern" at Vernon (now Rockville), Connecticut, when Lafayette was entertained there in 1825. All the characters of Roman mythology were pictured in woodland scenes printed in gray and black, on small squares of paper carefully matched. Below these ran a band bearing the names of the characters represented; and below this, a gra.s.sy green dado dotted with marine pictures. (p. 69)

PLATE x.x.xI.

Canterbury Bells.

Paper from Howe's Tavern, at Sudbury, Ma.s.sachusetts,--the "Wayside Inn" of Longfellow's Tales. The fragment is in poor condition but possesses historic interest, having decorated the room in which Lafayette pa.s.sed the night on his trip through America. (p. 67)

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_PLATE x.x.xII_

_PLATE x.x.xIII_

PLATE x.x.xII.

The First Railroad Locomotive.

Paper on an old house in High Street, Salem, supposed to represent the first railroad. The first trial of locomotives for any purpose other than hauling coal from the mines, took place near Rainhill, England, in 1829. The paper may celebrate this contest, at which of three engines was successful. (p. 89-90)

PLATE x.x.xIII.

High Street House Paper.

Scene on opposite side of same room. The subject and figures seem English. The scenes are in colors, the dado in black and grey on white ground.

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_PLATE x.x.xIV_