American Folk Art Murals in Miniature

February 4, 2016

It is believed that the home’s namesake, Ezra Carroll, commissioned the artfully adorned walls in the Ezra Carroll House. Located on a busy east-west thoroughfare near the store he owned, Carroll occupied the home from 1815 until his death in 1844. During this time, he hired itinerant painter William Price to paint the walls of his home.

While all the rage in England and France, scenic wallpaper was expensive to import and difficult to get your hands on. Ever resourceful, Americans folk artists in New York and New England found a DIY solution worthy of a 21st-century pin: hand-painting oil landscapes directly onto dry plaster.

While we know very little about Price, we do know he is the murals’ artist thanks to his signing and dating the work. Some scholars think he may be the same William H. Price that is listed as living in New York City in 1844, and that he may have been a veteran of the War of 1812 because of his depiction of Commander Perry’s victory at the Battle of Lake Erie in one of the murals. Scholars assume that he took inspiration from local and exotic scenic views in order to duplicate the French’s elaborate wallpapers.