In 1988 roughly 20 sheets of rolled Chinese wallpaper were found in the outbuildings of Harewood House. Subsequent research has shown that the rolls form a complete scheme which is likely to have been installed in the Chintz Bedroom of Harewood House in 1769. In the mid 1990s the sheets of wallpaper were conserved to a level that would allow them to be stored for future use.
The wallpaper probably dates to the 1760s and is hand painted with scenes from Chinese life as well as landscapes. It was possibly commissioned by Edwin Lascelles as part of the decoration of the newly built Harewood House. It is also possible that either Edwin’s brother Daniel acquired the paper whilst in the East Indies or their youngest brother Henry acquired the paper during his time as a Captain of the East India Company.
In 1771 the Duchess of Northumberland visited the nearly completed Harewood House and remarked on the wallpaper:
‘In the Attic are only Bedchambers … the best is furnish’d with very fine Chintz and India Paper. That in which I lay was pea Green half Damask’.
The conservation report notes that the decorative painting is an early example of its type and is of extremely high quality. A great deal of the paper is still in its original condition where as many papers have suffered from years of over painting. The wallpaper conservator who is one of two people in Britain specialising in this type of work has said that... 'this is possibly the finest example of a Chinese wallpaper anywhere in the world.'
