Adena Pin Ring Wallpaper - A

This small figured pattern was installed in the library of Thomas Worthington’s house, Adena, in Chillicothe, Ohio in 1808. The paper was purchased by Worthington’s brother-in-law from Thomas & Caldcleugh, a Baltimore stationer and paperhanging manufacturer. We know from advertisements in Baltimore newspapers that Thomas and Caldcleugh purchased much of their stock from Thomas Hurley’s manufactory in Philadelphia.
This pattern’s simple geometry was described by Mr. Thomas as a “late fashionable piece” which was “plain and neat.” Neat was defined at that time as “characterized by elegance of form or arrangement, with freedom from all unnecessary additions or embellishments; of agreeable but simple appearance; nicely made or proportioned.”
This was probably the “common paper” listed in an 1808 invoice in Adena’s records; if so we know it was fairly inexpensive. Another example of this pattern resides in the Winterthur library as a cover for the Abraham Rex 1806 daybook.