Wallpaper of expensive styles and artistic variety were brought to America as early as 1735.  Before that time, clay paint was used by thrifty housewives to freshen and clean the sooty walls and ceilings of their homes, often blackened by the big open fires. This was prepared simply by mixing with water the yellow-gray clay from the nearest clay-bank.

Those who could not afford to import wallpaper, painted their walls, either in one color or added a simple stenciled pattern. Some added panels, in imitation of French papers; each panel with its own picture, large or small. These attempts at decoration ranged with the taste and skill of the artist – from fruit and floral designs and patterns copied from India prints and imported china, to more elaborate hills in a park, for sliding down, toboggan fashion, and a score of people enjoying them or looking on. Rolls of wallpaper did not appear in America until 1790, so most designs imported before this time arrived in square sheets. The progress of wall decoration in America went from white walls, through a clay wash, to hand painting, stenciling, small imported sheets, and, at last, to rolls of paper.

Antique Wallpaper - 18th century English Wallpaper
Sixteen sets of block were necessary to obtain the varied though
quiet color effects and the delicate shading.

Cathedral Porch and Shrine in Repeated Design, c. 1800
Effectively colored wallpaper showing a shrine in the porch of a cathedral; the repeated design being connected with columns, winding stairs and ruins. The blue sky seen through the marble arches contrasts finely with the green foliage.