Cole & Son | Trees of Eden ETERNITY

Martyn Lawrence Bullard's Trees of Eden are panels drawn from the mythology of the garden, and Eternity is the one given over to wisteria: long willowy boughs, racemes hanging in full bloom, the flower Cole & Son have used since the earliest years of the archive. Wisteria carries a double meaning of youthful vitality and devotion, which is where the panel takes its name.

The drawing comes out of archive chintz, that meeting of imported motifs with traditional British heritage design which produced some of the most highly prized textiles of their day, and it is painted to scale rather than reduced into a repeat. The finish is deliberately distressed, closer to a batik or a faded hanging than to a crisp modern print, so the tree looks like something that has been on the wall for some time.

Panels of this kind offer a choice. Hung side by side with its companions, Eternity becomes part of a continuous grove and the effect is theatrical. Hung alone it works as a single decorative event, behind a bed, at the end of a hall, on the one uninterrupted wall of an awkward room, which is often the more disciplined decision. It suits a room with quiet walls elsewhere, plain matting or boards, and furniture with some age to it.