Chinoiserie Floral Wallpaper and Framed Textile, Museum Gallery

30 September 2019 · Manchester

A floor-to-ceiling wall of red chinoiserie wallpaper dominates the gallery, its dense floral and foliage pattern in teal, gold, and blush filling the frame almost completely. Two framed textile panels hang against it — one on the plain dusty-rose wall to the left, one centred on the wallpaper itself: a blue-ground panel cascading with roses, its ornate gilt frame pulling it just far enough from the surface to read as a distinct object. The wallpaper is both backdrop and exhibit. That tension is the point of the room.