In the 18th and 19th centuries, architects and decorative artists were constantly seeking new sources of inspiration to satisfy the demands of their rich patrons.The result was a wave of creative expression that encompassed everything from the smallest objets d’art to entire buildings. This sumptuously produced book explores the enduring allure of Orientalist decor and introduces the princes and aristocrats, artists and poets who commissioned these opulent interiors.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, architects and decorative artists were constantly seeking new sources of inspiration to satisfy the demands of their rich patrons. While some revisited the canons of the classical world, others began to turn their eyes towards the East. Chinese silks and Indian spices had long been coveted luxuries, but increasing trade and colonial excursions had made these formerly remote lands more accessible. Merchants and adventurers returned from their travels bearing beautiful decorative objects,sumptuous fabrics and ornate furniture, all of which stoked the West's fascination with 'exotic' cultures.The 'Oriental' became a byword for spectacle and sensuality, and the result was a wave of creative expression that encompassed everything from the smallest objets d'art to entire buildings. The dominant decorative influences are reflected in the three sections of this book - China and Japan, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East and North Africa - and were sometimes even combined,allowing the inhabitants to voyage through many lands without ever leaving home. Craft techniques such as Japanese lacquerwork were embraced, traditional motifs were appropriated and reinterpreted to suit Western tastes,and walls were adorned with painted scenes of Eastern life by artists such as Francois Boucher and Jean Pillement,which owed as much to literature and fantasy as to reality.Many of these extravagant creations have been lovingly preserved and are captured here in lavish full-page illustrations. Readers can travel from the splendour of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton to the Mughal-style villa of Monserrate in Portugal, via the Chinese pavilions and Turkish salons of the Russian imperial residences and the Arabian-inspired home of French writer and collector Pierre Loti. This book explores the enduring allure of Orientalist decor and introduces the princes and aristocrats,artists and poets who commissioned these opulent interiors,which still possess the power to transport us to another time and place.

Introduction

A trembling of the soul

the Enlighfenment and the taste for the exotic

The Arts of China and Japan

From Marco Polo to Dufeh ambassadors:

the Far East in the European imagination

Chinoiserie

This palace was viewed as magical

pieasure pavili0ns inthe Chinese taste

Japonisme

The Magnificence of India

Voyages to a !and ofprospeiqty

india from a Palanquin

From Sezincote to Monserrate: Mughal

Revival architecture and British patrons

The Splendour of the Near East

From Baghdad to Granada:

travels in the Orienf

The legendary Mhambra

Towards a renewal of the decorative arts

Orientalism in architecfure

Selected Bibliography

Photography Credits

Acknowledgments

A Note on Place Names

Index