2286 Traditional Stencil Designs

Before the widespread development of modern interior decoration builders and homeowners often relied on commercially available stencils to decorate ceilings and walls of houses and other structures. This volume reproduces two rare catalogs of such stencils manufactured ca. 1918 and ca. 1920 by H. Roessing of Chicago. <br>Over 2200 stencil designs include an enormous variety of attractive and boldly printed images: ornamental borders corners and frames with intricate floral and foliate patterns architectural ornaments and design elements religious symbols and figures numerous animals (horses lions birds etc.) mosaics landscapes and much more.<br>Meticulously reprinted from original catalogs in the collection of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia these masterfully executed designs are an important source of copyright-free material invaluable for artists illustrators and craftspeople working with textiles wallpaper and other decorative products. Moreover these ornamental motifs provide an invaluable record of American decorative tastes in the early years of the twentieth century.