Chinese wallpaper collections
Visit the National Trust Collections website to discover more Chinese wallpapers in our care.
As trade between Europe and Asia grew in the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans developed a taste for Chinese art and design. From the mid-18th century, Chinese wallpaper became a staple ingredient of the British country house. Discover some of the rare and significant Chinese wall coverings at the places in our care.
In the early 18th century, Europeans increasingly used Chinese prints and paintings as wall decoration. In response, Chinese artisans began to supply pictorial wallpapers to Europe, probably from the 1740s.
The National Trust looks after the largest collection of historic Chinese wallpapers on permanent public display in the world. Discover some of the most notable examples here.
Saltram is home to rare early schemes of Chinese ‘wallpaper’ consisting of collages of paintings and prints, probably created in the 1740s or 1750s.
Until recently, it was assumed that Chinese wallpapers were always entirely painted by hand. In fact, the early examples made around 1750, like the paper at Ightham Mote, were partly woodblock printed. The Ightham paper also shows how Chinese wallpapers had to be extensively cut and rearranged to make them fit onto the walls of European mansions.
Visit the National Trust Collections website to discover more Chinese wallpapers in our care.
See the breadth of our collection of works of art, furniture and more: we care for around a million objects at over 200 historic places, there’s a surprise discovery around every corner.
We look after the largest collection of tapestries in Britain and one of the largest in the world. Discover some examples of this outstanding craftmanship at the places in our care.
Discover how the use of paint in the historic interiors of four of the houses in our care reveals evolving fashions, new pigments and residents' wealth and status.
Learn about some of the misleading objects, paintings and architectural features in the historic houses we look after, and discover the truth behind these optical illusions.
We publish two illustrated research journals every year, containing expert insights into our places and collections, curatorial content, and the latest conservation news.