Cooperstown Bouquet Wallpaper - B

This splendid example of a provincial “Rainbow” pattern was discovered lining a small trunk in Fly Creek, New York. Attempting to imitate the shimmering effect of woven silk, the rainbow or irisé (pronounced eer-ee-zay) technique was invented by Michel Spoerlin in 1819 in the French region of Alsace. Rainbow wallpaper became wildly popular in France in the 1820’s. By the late 1820’s they had arrived in America and remained popular into the 1840s. This pattern dates from approximately 1830 and is clearly an American copy of “the latest French style”; it displays the simplicity of design and scale of ornament typical of provincial domestic papers of the time.