wallpaper sandwich

This is one of twelve layers in a 'sandwich' of wallpapers salvaged from a domitory wall in the university college, Peterhouse Cambridge. The fragments were donated to MoDA by a company who were renovating the domitories in 2001. The twelve fragments represent over two hundred years of history and range from the top layer of white 1980s woodchip paper to a late eighteenth centrury block printed, handmade paper (depicted). Other layers include William Morris & Co. paper 'Mallow' designed by Kate Faulkener, 1879 and a 1930s brown paper with white vertical and horizontal patterning. The layers were separated out by a conservator at MoDA in the early 2000s but a 'chunk' of the sandwich was also left in tact so it is still possible to appreciate the context and place of each individual layer.