Room 56c: Britain & the Indies

 
This room looks at the development of British art and design in the late 17th and early 18th centuries as a result of Britain's burgeoning trade with Asia and the Americas. Tea, spices, porcelain, lacquer, silks and cottons were imported from Asia. The fashion for imports from Asia stimulated imitations and adaptations, in particular, painted furniture which was described as 'japanned'. British makers often did not distinguish between the different countries of 'the Indies' and mixed images and motifs to create what appeared to them to be an exotic effect.

Room 56c is on Level 2 of the V&A South Kensington.

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