Based on one of the oldest surviving documents in English Heritage’s wallpaper archive, this fragment from an embossed leather wall hanging actually predates wallpaper.

Panels of embossed and painted leather, usually with a floral pattern, were popular, though expensive, modes of decoration in the late 16th and 17th centuries. T

hese panels were sewn together to create large-scale decorative hangings, much in the same way that drops of wallpaper are hung side-by-side to create a much more impressive statement.