Painted murals on interior walls are among the most monumental of early American folk arts. Because of changes in taste and the destruction of older buildings, however, few original scenic-painted interiors remain intact. A rare example is this section of an entire upper hallway removed in its entirety from the Boyce house in Thornton, New Hampshire. This type of decorative wall painting was introduced toward the end of the eighteenth century and was often executed by itinerant artisans. Distemper, a mixture of glue, water, and pigment, was an inexpensive coloring agent widely used to paint plaster walls because it was easily applied and could be removed if a mistake were made. The surface to be painted commonly was composed of a lime, sand, and horsehair plaster applied over lath, and sometimes the plaster was wet when the paint was applied, a fresco technique in which the paint bonds with the support.

This wall features a combination of stenciled and freehand decoration. The stenciled border at the top resembles a pattern used by the well-known decorative painter Moses Eaton Jr. The freehand painting, once credited to Rufus Porter, is attributed to an itinerant artist known only as the Bear and Pears Artist, after the decoration on a fireboard from Lisbon, New Hampshire, that includes the distinctive motif of trees heavily laden with red pears and a bear trying to climb a tree. The same artist also painted a floor and a fireboard in the Captain Thomas Dodge house in Lisbon that include the fruit-bearing tree and figures carrying bows.

The unlikely juxtaposition of a New England landscape and three-story structure with palm trees, soldiers, and an elephant is related in spirit to imported early-nineteenth-century French scenic wallpapers, such as those produced by Joseph Dufour as early as 1804 depicting Captain Cook's exploration of the Pacific and his violent death. There may be a kernel of truth to the scene, however. The proximity of the building, which because of its size may be a tavern, to the line of Hessian soldiers speaks to a long association between taverns and militia. And before traveling circuses became popular, individual exotic animals such as camels, elephants, and lions were placed on exhibit at local taverns. By 1796, the first elephant was touring America, followed by a second in 1804.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Scenic Wall," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 312.