DuFour Wallpaper

via Felt and Wire

via The Editor at Large

 via The Captain Cook Society

Interest in 18th and early 19th century global expansion sparked nostalgia for european explorations of the previous centuries, and influenced design and consumer culture. It isn't surprising that these clumsy and, at times, violent narratives are found in the polite parlors of affluent commercial traders of New England--mostly near Boston, on the South Shore, and along off-shoot trading tributaries such as the Connecticut River Valley. Between 1804 and 1827, Dufour produced 31 designs, 6 of which depicted exploratory voyages or conquests, 4 depicted voyages in the Pacific basin, reflecting an enthusiasm for the expansion of certain markets--China had opened its borders only a few decades prior, New Englanders were being lured by equatorial sealing prospects, and traders were harvesting sea cucumbers and sandalwood for the Canton market from "obliging" citizens of the South Pacific. The exotic scenes obviously reference more complex ideas than simply trade, namely, imperialism, which bestows a larger sense of "prestige" to these genteel dwellings.

Contact John Burrows in Rockland, MA for repro ideas.