Segment of painted wallpaper including Chinese structures on stilts, with a crowd of people in the front of the painting, and mountains in the background.
Chinese, for export Wallpaper, late 1700s or early 1800s Pigments on paper Gift of funds from Mrs. W.C. MacFarlane and Wayne H. MacFarlane in memory of Warren C. MacFarlane 67.58.7

Living Rooms | Made in China: The MacFarlane Room Wallpaper

Living Rooms | Made in China: The MacFarlane Room Wallpaper

May 12, 2015 - December 29, 2019
G328
Free

Mia created the MacFarlane Memorial Room in the mid-1970s to display hand-painted Chinese export wallpapers, made in the late 1700s or early 1800s and given to the museum by Mabel MacFarlane in 1967. The room is usually furnished with Federal-style American furniture, given to the museum by the MacFarlane family, and represents a parlor in the home of a wealthy New England family.

For this special installation focusing on the wallpaper, we have removed the furnishings and invite visitors to come inside, sit down, and let their eyes wander over the wallpaper’s many lively scenes of a Chinese New Year festival in a noble family’s garden.
This project is part of Living Rooms, an initiative to present Mia’s historic interiors and decorative arts collections in new ways.

Generous support for this project provided by the MacFarlane Memorial Room Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation. Generous support for Living Rooms provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and donors at the 2014 Mia Gala.
NEA logo
Chinese, for export Wallpaper, late 1700s or early 1800s Pigments on paper Gift of funds from Mrs. W.C. MacFarlane and Wayne H. MacFarlane in memory of Warren C. MacFarlane 67.58.7