The creation of the printing press in the West (ca. 1450) fueled the intellectual progress and artistic developments of the European Renaissance. Whether in books or pamphlets, art prints, or even later on print-decorated ceramics, this technology fundamentally transformed European and American life. 


The Print Room invites you to explore an immersive eighteenth-century fantasy world to examine the relationship between ceramics and printing from roughly 1750 to 1840.

During this period, fascination with printed imagery led to the creation of formal print rooms. In elite homes, designers adorned interior walls with decoratively arranged prints of landscapes, satirical scenes, famous people, botanicals, and animals. Augmented with eye-catching trim such as paper frames, swags, and ornaments, print rooms functioned as visually unified interiors that emphasized their owners' social, aesthetic, and intellectual values.