A GUIDE TO WALLPAPER PRINTING

1 Block printing

Magnified view of Block printed wallpaper,

demonstrating how the thick stodgy inks are
The first known method of wallpaper printing.
‘splodged’ as the printing block is lifted off.
Recorded as having been used as early as 1509.
Prior to this plain paper was pasted to the wall
and then hand drawn and coloured in by artists.
Continued as the only ‘real’ means of printing
wallpapers until the introduction of the
‘Printing machine’ some 300 years later.
WHILE TECHNOLOGY MAY HAVE whilst having excellent wear
REVOLUTIONISED THE PRINT qualities, were simply too hard for
INDUSTRY LIKE NO OTHER, IT cutting by hand.
HAS FAILED TO PRODUCE ANY
However, in recent years there
METHOD THAT MATCHES THE
have been limited developments
TACTILITY OF HAND BLOCK
whereby other more modern
PRINTING. ITS SIMPLISTIC
materials, such as Linoleum, plastic
BEAUTY COULD NOT BE
and metal, have become available.
DEMONSTRATED ANY BETTER
THAN IN THE MANUFACTURE OF Given that these materials are
THESE TRADITIONALLY PRINTED inherently more stable than wood
WALLPAPERS. that can twist, warp and crack, it
would be a fair bet that had they
Historically, the wood of fruit trees,
been available 400 years ago, they
such as cherry and pear, has been
would certainly have been used.
used for the printing blocks as this
timber offered the right balance The look of block printed
between durability of use and the wallpapers, peculiar to itself, is not
practicalities of cutting the block. necessarily created by the
Softwoods, such as pine, could not materials used to make the block,
withstand the pressures put upon but from the ‘splodge’ created by
them by the press; whereas harder the vacuum as the printing block is
woods, such as oak or maple, pulled away from the paper.

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 A GUIDE TO WALLPAPER PRINTING

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3 4

For the process of printing, the
craftsman utilises a table, padded
with blankets, on which the paper
is laid. Next to the table is a
wooden, wall-sided tray, inside of
which there is an absorbent
in placing the block exactly into
position. Accuracy and strength of
colour is effectively governed by
the printer’s ‘gut feeling’ on how
much pressure needs to be
applied to the back of the block.
1 Wooden blocks each with a unique reference
number on showing the design and the
pitch number
2 Printing in progress - the block being
manoeuvred into place using the crane
3 Ink preparation - the wall-sided tray with the

blanket that is saturated with the absorbent blanket saturated in pigment

coloured pigment.
The printer colours the block by
lowering it down onto the colour
tray, and once sufficiently inked is
lifted and manoeuvred over to the
paper by an arch lever system
(crane) before being pressed down
to create the print. Pins on the
side of the blocks guide the printer
After each individual colour has
4 An example of an inked wooden block
been laid the paper is ‘festoon’
hung for 4-5 hours to let the thick
water-based inks dry, before the
next colour is applied. Once all of
the colours have been printed the
wallpaper is PVA lacquered for
protection, before being manually
trimmed and individually hand
wound.

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