![]() In some kind of disconnect, people believed that only by licking the walls would they get poisoned, or only by the green colors. “This is my appearance after a good dose of ARSENIC taken medicinally.” The 1850s British cartoon shows the skeletal figure of Death appearing from behind a screen to observe a patient suffering the adverse effects of arsenic treatment. She points out that just as Baudelaire was titling his book of dark poems Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), the death of a young Parisian artificial florist was being investigated in regards to the poisonous colors. Yet they also applied arsenic cosmetics, gave their children toys painted with arsenic, wore dresses and hats dyed with arsenic, and ate meat dipped into it to keep away flies. Alison Matthews David, in her 2015 book Fashion Victims, notes that as nature was vanishing from the industrial city, the “Emerald Green” became popular on artificial flowers worn in the hair. That arsenic was poisonous was certainly not a secret every Victorian home had a bit of the powder lying around for rats and mice, and people likely knew tales of the “inheritance powder” being used for murder. The pigment could also be mixed to create bright yellows and rich blues, perfect for the Victorian craze for opulent interior design. In 1814, Wilhelm Sattler, a German industrialist, seemingly perfected it by using arsenic and verdigris for a more steadfast green. Potter, Lancashire, UK (1856) Hennell & Crosby, London (1846) Christopher Dresser for William Cooke, Leeds, UK (1862) (© 2016 Crown Copyright)īack in 1771, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had developed a green pigment from a compound of copper arsenite. Grid of wallpaper by Pavy’s Patent Felted Fabric Company Limited, London (1873) James Boswell, Dublin, Ireland (1846) Jules Desfossé, Paris, France (1877) Scott, Cuthbertson & Company, London (1856) William Evans, London (1847) C. Perhaps, like much of the country, he was unable to resist the huge profits of the industry. “One of the great unanswered questions about Morris is why he never visited the mines or concerned himself with the welfare of the miners and their families,” Hawksley writes. ![]() Part of Hawksley’s research was to delve into how Morris - a philanthropist who advocated for humane working conditions in his decorative arts company - overlooked the incredible hazards of the arsenic mine and the use of poison in his wallpaper. Morris didn’t just have his identity as an artist linked to the wallpaper industry and its arsenic pigments, which allowed for the mass production of newly vibrant and durable colors his wealth also came from his family’s mine, Devon Great Consols, which was among the leading producers of arsenic. The “doctors were bitten as people were bitten by the witch fever,” he wrote to his friend Thomas Wardle in 1885. ![]() The title is taken from a dismissive quote by the most famous wallpaper designer to come out of that time: William Morris. Cover of Lucinda Hawksley’s Bitten by Witch Fever (courtesy Thames & Hudson) ![]()
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