Bielefeld, Charles Frederick.
On the Use of the Improved Papier Mache in Furniture, in the Interior Decoration of Buildings, and in Works of Art.
London; Bielefeld Papier Mache Works:nd (1842). The title consists of an account of the improvements Bielefeld has made in papier mache, some press notices of their work, followed by their 1840 catalog- "Ornaments in Every Style of Design, practically applicable to the decoration of the Interior of Domestic and Public Buildings and intended for the assistance of the architect, builder, upholsterer, and decorator; Manufactured in the Improved Papier Mache, by Charles F. Bielefeld, Modeller...". The perfection of cheap, mass-produced papier-mache ornaments to replace costlier and more fragile plaster ornaments was a great boon to 19th century manufacturers and decorators, who were making ornamented furniture, paneling and rooms available to the middle class for the first time. The expanding popularity of Gothic, Renaissance, Elizabethan, and other Revivalist styles was to some extent aided by the availability of these easily-produced, sturdy and relatively cheap ornamental elements. The Bielefeld firm was an important manufacturer and designer in this field, and pioneered some of the new processes and formulas which made mass-production of papier mache ornaments possible. DeVoe ("English Papier Mache of the Georgian and Victorian Periods") notes that Bielefeld "introduced paper panels that measured six feet by eight feet and were one-half inch thickness...Perhaps Bielefeld's most interesting product was a village of ten pre-fabricated houses, including a nine-room villa..." Bielefeld's catalog includes many different types of scrollwork and other architectural ornaments in many Revivalist styles, although Gothic seems to predominate. There are also several pieces of furniture and many plates of entire walls, ceilings, rooms and even a few halls decorated with Bielsfeld papier-mache ornaments. 11.5"x14.5", with an engraved frontispiece of the interior of the Pantheon in London, decorated with papier-mache ornaments, + title page + 11 pages; 2 pages of press notices; title page + 125 lithographed plates. Bound in the original cloth covers, covers worn; endpapers somewhat crudely rebacked at some time, and the title page and first and last several pages mounted on wide linen stubs; some soil and very minor spotting throughout, and wear and light soil appropriate to a trade catalog which saw use; several marginal stains.
$2,000.00
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