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Object Timeline

-0001

1938

  • We acquired this object.

2001

2006

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2025

  • You found it!

Sidewall, Japonaiserie

This is a sidewall. It was manufactured by W.N. Peak. It is dated 1883–85 and we acquired it in 1938. Its medium is machine-printed paper. It is a part of the Wallcoverings department.

Anglo-Japanese wallcoverings, composed of tightly patterned circles, squares, and rectangles filled with ornament and arranged asymmetrically, became the vogue for walls and ceilings of parlors and libraries during the 1880s. This example, combining images of Niagara Falls as well as the Niagara Railroad Suspension Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge (both designed by John Augustus Roebling), appears to celebrate man’s ability to harness the power of natural forces and materials to create new technologies such as cast-iron bridges.



Wall Label from exhibition, "Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape," Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, NY.

This object was donated by Grace Lincoln Temple. It is credited Gift of Grace Lincoln Temple.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 75 x 48.5 cm (29 1/2 x 19 1/8 in.) Repeat H x W: 39.8 x 47 cm (15 11/16 x 18 1/2 in.)

Cite this object as

Sidewall, Japonaiserie; Manufactured by W.N. Peak; USA; machine-printed paper; H x W: 75 x 48.5 cm (29 1/2 x 19 1/8 in.) Repeat H x W: 39.8 x 47 cm (15 11/16 x 18 1/2 in.); Gift of Grace Lincoln Temple; 1938-62-18

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18353601/ |title=Sidewall, Japonaiserie |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>