Lincrusta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lincrusta is an embossed fabric used for covering walls, similar in style to anaglypta. It was invented by Frederick Walton in 1877 and is also called Lincrusta-Walton or Lincrusta Walton. It was designed to emulate more expensive materials and hence be more oriented to a mass market. These materials were used to enrich the interiors of late Victorian architecture and now used for historic restoration projects.

The primary ingredients of lincrusta, linseed oil and wood pulp, are the same as those of linoleum, which was also invented by Walton. The fabric is embossed and colored to resemble tooled leather or pressed metal, and then applied to the wall. It was chiefly used for friezes and dados. Specialized techniques were used to apply this finish material, and it is not often seen outside historical reproductions.

When composer William Walton was living with the Sitwell family, they punningly referred to him as Lincrusta Walton, possibly because they saw him as adhering tightly to the family.

[edit] External links

• History and product information
• Applying a Lincrusta border

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.