SPNEA (now known as Historic New England) founder William Sumner Appleton began the museum’s wallpaper collection in 1911 with 39 samples. Since then, Historic New England’s internationally-known wallpaper collection has become one of the largest in the country, with more than 5,000 pieces, including examples removed from walls as well as pieces used to cover pamphlets, line trunks, and decorate fire boards and band boxes.

Complementing this collection are hundreds of interior photographs and related ephemera from Historic New England’s Library & Archives, which show the extraordinary depth and range of wallpaper designs available from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.

Let Historic New England help you explore wallpaper in New England from the 1750s to the 1950s. More information and access to Historic New England’s extensive wallpaper collection are just a click away.

• History of Wallpaper
  Discover the stylistic and technical developments over the last four centuries, enhanced by easy-to-use links to a glossary offering definitions of terms, styles, and methods of manufacture.
   
• Care & Conservation
  Find helpful information on preserving and caring for historic wallpaper uncovered during restoration.
   
• Resources
  Access our comprehensive listings of conservators, reproduction wallpaper manufacturers, suppliers, other historic wallpaper collections, and a suggested reading list.
   
• Searchable Collections Catalogue
  Search our extensive, illustrated online catalogue of Historic New England’s wallpaper collection to identify wallpaper or look at wallpaper produced during a specific time period.
   
• Frequently Asked Questions
  Read through ten of the most commonly asked wallpaper questions Historic New England has received over the years.
   
• User Feedback Survey
  Fill out a quick survey and help us to better serve you. Remember your feedback is an important part of the Wallpaper in New England project.