The [in]significance of New Zealand wallpaper in the 1940s

Abstract

This paper draws on research into the use, imaging and recording of wallpaper in New Zealand from 1850 to 1950, conducted as part of the Martin Hill Wallpaper research project. It tests New Zealand wallpaper as an industry, a craft, and as a design activity, comparing it to other applied wall surface treatments significant to the contemporary 1940s context, aiming to contextualise the value placed on wallpaper in the modern interior. To explore the content and context of wallpaper as it was recorded in 1940s New Zealand, this paper specifically draws on the definitive contemporary exhibition; The New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, and a definitive contemporary text; DE Barry Martin's Modern Decoration & Furnishing: The Complete Guide to Planning and Buying for all interiors, as sources to provide a framework within which to locate wallpaper and its perceived significance.