Vertical Waves: Early 20th century pochoir wallpaper samples

These images come from 1920s pochoir pattern books, originally owned by the University of Michigan Architecture Library. Pochoir is the French word for stencil, and prior to modern printing technology, it was a major way that full color information was disseminated, particularly in the fashion and interiors industries. The patterns were designed to be used in a variety of ways, including textiles and wall coverings. Architecture students would have used the patterns reproduced in the books to complete their architectural assignments. 

8 Vertical Waves OG Rendering.jpg

Doug Jones. "Vertical Waves." December 3, 2019. Pixel Technique Piece.

The image above is a white figure with a red backdrop. At the top of the piece, the white figure looks like a cross section of a human eye. What look like eyelashes are long curvy line that runs down the piece until they are stopped by a diagonal line on the right side of the image. 

It was created by attendees at the 2019 Ann Arbor Summer Festival. 

You can find information about the original inspiration for this piece in the University of Michigan Library catalog. 

Style: Early 20th century pochoir wallpaper samples

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