In 1498 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed on the west coast of India. His arrival established the first direct contact between western Europe and maritime Asia, ushering in a period of commercial, cultural and technological exchange. This signalled not only the beginnings of a global market but also a profound change in taste and lifestyle that still influences our lives today. In 2004, the V&A hosted the exhibition 'Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800'
Trade with Asia 1500-1800: Discoveries
In the late medieval period merchants transported Asian spices and luxury goods along lengthy land and sea routes to the Levant.
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Trade with Asia 1500-1800: Encounters
Maritime Asia was as vast as it was varied, and the response to the arrival of Europeans was correspondingly diverse.
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Trade with Asia 1500-1800: Exchanges
During the period 1500-1800 Asian commodities flooded into the West. As well as spices and tea, they included silks, cottons, porcelains and other luxury goods
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Trade with Asia 1500-1800: Trade Routes
As trade between Europe and Asia grew, key ports became thriving commercial centres
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Trade with Asia 1500-1800: Reading List
A reading list for the study of Asian trade between 1500 -1800
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The British in South Asia
Due to the popularity of painted and printed cottons (chintzes), textiles dominated trade between India and Britain
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A gift in your will
You may not have thought of including a gift to a museum in your will, but the V&A is a charity and legacies form an important source of funding for our work. It is not just the great collectors and the wealthy who leave legacies to the V&A. Legacies of all sizes, large and small, make a real difference to what we can do and your support can help ensure that future generations enjoy the V&A as much as you have.
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Muslin
This book charts the history of muslin, a cotton textile so fine as to be almost invisible, and the story of its export from India to Europe and Ameri…
Buy nowEvent - Indian Arrival Day
Fri 24 May 2013 18:30
SPECIAL EVENT: Explore the aftermath of the transatlantic slave trade, the growth of material prosperity as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and mass migration of an indentured labour force from the Indian subcontinent to east and south Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
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