Announcing our Winter Exhibition

We are delighted to announce our upcoming winter exhibition, Looking East: Japanned Furniture of Georgian England, which will take place at the gallery from 27 November to 15 December.

The exhibition will feature a curated selection of exquisite 18th century japanned English furniture that highlights the prominence of this trend in the wake of contemporary fascination with imports from China and Japan.

Chinese and Japanese lacquerware appeared in England as early as the 17^th century.  To meet the demand and desire to reproduce lacquer in England, John Stalker and George Parker published the earliest book on the subject of European lacquer in 1688 entitled A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing.  This influential publication offered recipes, technical advice, and ‘above an Hundred distinct Patterns for Japan-work in Imitation of the Indians, for Tables, Stands, Frames, Cabinets, Boxes, &c.’  This exhibition focuses on the way 18^th century japanning in England developed and flourished and bolstered the interest in chinoiserie within Georgian interiors.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the online catalogue and additional details.  In the meantime, please feel free to have a look on our website.

 

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