Large Early 19th C. Gouache Painting, "By the Water Trough"

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A turn of the 18th, 19th century French gouache or fragment of a wallpaper panel depicting a gathering of people … Read more A turn of the 18th, 19th century French gouache or fragment of a wallpaper panel depicting a gathering of people and animals at a fountain by a wall. This charming artwork is a good example of scenic decoration typical of late 18th century, early 19th wallpaper. We post here an excerpt from "A Short History of Wallpaper" from the Victoria and Albert Museum website:

With the exception of the sturdy embossed wallcoverings such as Anaglypta, wallpaper is generally an ephemeral material. Whereas furniture and textiles often survive, and pass from one generation to the next, wallpaper is frequently damaged, covered over or removed altogether. It has generally been the easiest and, relatively speaking, the cheapest aspect of interior decoration to replace, and thus it is the least likely to survive. This is unfortunate because wallpaper is the most eloquent embodiment of changing fashions, vivid evidence of an individual’s taste, and the fundamental framework of any new scheme of decoration. See less