Cutting the block

Image: Cutting the block

The next stage was to create the blocks required to print the pattern – one block for each of the three colours – dark orange, light yellow and cream - on a maroon background. Tracings on acetate were taken from a full-size photograph of the original wallpaper – each tracing copying the elements printed in just one of the colours. The tracings then had to be overlaid to make sure that they all lined up precisely. In an additional technical challenge, the tracings had to very slightly enlarge the pattern to allow for shrinkage of the paper as it dried after printing (to ensure it would be exactly the same size as the original). The three acetate transparencies were then used as templates to laser-cut the blocks. The hand-tracing ensured a tiny degree of variation in the lines to preserve the free-hand quality of the hand-carved blocks that were used in the early 19th century.