Lincrusta
Heritage Wallcoverings Ltd, 67 Church Street, Lancaster
Lincrusta, described as 'the first washable wallcovering' was developed by Frederick Walton, pioneer of linoleum floor coverings. Originally patented as Linoleum Muralis (Linoleum for walls), its name soon changed to Lincrusta-Walton. The name Lincrusta was derived from Lin (from Linum - flax, the source of linseed oil) and Crusta (Relief).
Designs quickly found prestigious applications.
By 1880, Lincrusta-Walton Francaise was established, with a factory in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, near Paris, .
1883 F. R. Beck bought the US patent rights and began manufacturing in Stamford, Connecticut.
1887 Lincrusta’s main rival, Anaglypta was establisheded. Anaglypta was developed by Thomas John Palmer. Palmer was the manager of Walton’s London showroom, and in 1883 he conceived an embossed paper pulp wall covering that would be lighter, more flexible and cheaper than Lincrusta. The directors rejected it, and in 1886 Palmer left Lincrusta-Walton, obtained his own patent, and arranged with Storey Brothers of Lancaster to manufacture the material at their Queens Mill factory in Lancaster.
Lincrusta was also produced under licence in Germany. An example of its use was in Kaiser Wilhelm II's railway carriages.
Rivals included Lignomur, introduced in the USA and based on a wood fibre pulp. It was subsequently patented and manufactured at Addison Works, Shepherd’s Bush from 1886. The firm was bought out by The Old Ford Co. in 1896 and the formula was changed to paper base pulp.
Lincrusta-Walton Co. developed called Cameoid (a low-relief covering), and Cordelova, and Salamander, a high relief asbestos fibre-based material introduced in 1895. Cameoid was invented in 1888 by D. M. Sutherland at the Sunbury Works, but it was not until 1898 that they decided to produce it.[1]
1905, Frederick Walton and Co was acquired by the Wallpaper Manufacturing Co. Most WPM production was consolidated to the Queen’s Mill plant in Darwen, but Lincrusta production continued at the original factory in Sunbury until 1918.
After the Second World War, WPM was purchased by Reed International and Relief Decorations (Anaglypta & Lincrusta) was transferred to Crown Paint Division, who later became part of Akzo Nobel. Later, Imperial Home Decor bought Lincrusta and Anaglypta from Akzo Nobel and moved production to Potters Mill, Darwen, before they were in turn purchased by CWV Ltd in 2003, and production was moved to a new factory in Morecambe. In 2012, Anaglypta was sold and in 2014 Lincrusta was purchased by Heritage Wallcoverings Ltd.
The above information is largely condensed from the excellent historical timeline on the Lincrust website.
Lincrusta was popular in prestigious liners, including Titanic, but an unusual maritime application came to light during the restoration of the cabin fitted on the deck of the ship Quest for Ernest Shackleton's fourth (and fatal) expedition to the Antarctic, in 1921. Contemporary photographs revealed that Lincrusta had been used on the ceiling of the otherwise utilitarian cabin used by Shackleton. The restorers contacted the company, who went to great lengths to locate similar wallpaper in London, and took a rubber moulding which enabled the restorers to produce replica coverings.[2]
For more detailed information, see here [3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] Wilson George Restoration - History of Raised Materials for Relief Decoration
- ↑ [2] The Irish Times: 'Shackleton's sea-bedroom was little more than a glorified packing case. The captain’s cabin, built during Ernest Shackleton’s fatal expedition in 1921, has been restored' by Lorna Siggins, Oct 6 2017
- ↑ [3] A history of English wallpaper, 1509-1914 by Sugden, Alan Victor; Edmondson, John Ludlam, 1926, Batsford