In a single-storey warehouse in the sleepy French city of Tours, one man has been on a mission for 25 years to revive the lost art of block-printed wallpaper.

Entering the warehouse, a sepia tangle of chaotic workbenches and tables dripped in decades of paint and collagen glue greet the visitor. Glimmering gold loops of paper hang from the ceiling; the pigment is so rich, they’re easily mistaken for sheet metal until the sharp February air ripples them awake.