Pompeian is a trellis at architectural scale. Where most trellis papers are drawn small enough to become texture, this one keeps the individual figure large and legible, so the wall carries a clear geometry: an interlocking framework of the kind found in Roman wall painting, which is where the name points.
The drawing is two-tone and flat, the framework stated by line alone with no attempt at depth. That restraint is what allows the scale to work. A large figure with modelling would become oppressive, whereas a large figure drawn as a diagram reads as structure. From across a room the pattern behaves almost as panelling; close to, the line is finer than the scale suggests.
It has been in the Cole & Son catalogue a long time, and it has survived because it sits equally well in a plain modern room and in an old one with mouldings. Its colourways run from softly toned and near-neutral through to sharply contrasted and metallic, which makes it either a background or the whole idea, depending on the choice. Halls, stairs and dining rooms take it best, where a wall can be seen whole. Given a plain floor and unfussy curtains, it will hold a room on its own.
