Bull's Head Medallion - C Green

A very few fragments of this medallion pattern were discovered pasted directly to the wood sheathing of a second floor room at the Bull’s Head Inn in Cobleskill, New York, just 14 miles from our workshop in Sharon Springs. The building was originally constructed as an inn for Lambert Lawyer; it was transformed into a residence in 1839.

While wallpapers from the major manufacturing centers of Boston, New York and Philadelphia were routinely sold in rural communities, it is conceivable that this pattern was the work of a wallpaper printer in Albany, who was known to be in business in the 1820s and ‘30s. Similarities of scale and structure can be detected between this and the Middlefield Sprig, another pattern found locally.

While the black medallion elements are uniform in size and distance from one another the white lace defines alternately closed or open spaces, creating a mild undulation.

The original was installed in a secondary room, but the bold design make it appropriate for public spaces as well.