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.
Over 2,200 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.
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. Dover co-publication (1991) with The Athenaeum of Philadelphia of two catalogs of "Excelsior" Fresco-Stencils manufactured by H. Roessing, Chicago, ca. 1918 and ca. 1920.