Vintage Toile Wallpaper with Caricatures of Foodies

1960. A fun wallpaper from the late 1950s or early 1960s, with caricatures in the style of Hilary Knight, and we wouldn't be surprised if Knight himself had a hand in the creation of this wallpaper. One of the prominent figures in the wallpaper's vignettes is unquestionably a likeness of none other than Kay Thompson, who was Knight's most famous collaborator and muse, the author of the Eloise books which remain to this day the most famous of Knight's illustrations. Of course the Thompson character is distorted within the parameters of caricature, but we believe no one would dispute that Thompson was who the artist had in mind. And one other detail that we would regard as dispositive on the question -- the inclusion of a cat! So if the wallpaper was not the brainchild of Knight, it was then by someone deliberately imitating Knight, and we frankly find that implausible given the legal risks that would have entailed. All the imagery, also, relates to food and dining. With at least a dozen different vignettes, eight of which are full scenes which capture a moment in a narrative, the others, being more modest still lifes with an object or group of objects-- a bouquet in a bottle, a teapot and some teacups. All these disparate pieces are arranged artfully, in the collage manner that characterizes toile, to create a mood and immerse us in a magical space, this one being the idyllic charm of a rambling suburban country-style house in Fairfield County or Westchester or the like. Without repetition (all the vignettes shown a single time), the height is 68 cm. The width: 61 cm. We do not know the length of the roll. None of the roll was probably used, and it is tightly wound, with almost no hollow core. The diameter is slightly over 5 cm. Based on an online calculator, the length would easily be a few thousand cm, or a few hundred feet. We make no representation on this question other than there is clearly many, many iterations of the single panel capturing all the vignettes. N.d., circa 1960. The end of the wallpaper has a closed tear 8 cm in length, obviously of no consequence given the full length and the many repeats. Tiny spots of surface flecking in the first repeat, and other wear, all of which vanishes as one unspools the wallpaper beyond. The wallpaper is also backed with canvas which adds to its durability. (Inventory #: 008203)