Author: Alan Freeland

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 47 / 12 Islamic influence on Western aesthetics

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 15 Europe addicted to Chinese Aesthetic

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 15 Chinese Exports and Tea

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 15 Chinese Exports and Medicine

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 15 More wealthy merchants

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 13 Obscene Riches

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 10 Medicines from afar

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46 / 6 Cultured International Merchants

Gallery: Europe 1400-1800 Room / Case / # 46/ 5 Taste for the exotic

Gallery: Islam Room / Case / # 43 / 6 Tulips from the Pamirs

Gallery: Islam Room / Case / # 43 / 22 / 5 Merchants, Mendicants and Minstrels

Gallery: Islam Room / Case / # 42 / 10 / Islam drives knowledge in geometry and mapping

Gallery: Islam Room / Case / # 42 / 10 / 6 The Muslims lands lead the world in Science

Gallery: Islam Room / Case / # 42 / 6 / 47 The Mongol who loved astronomy more than jade

Gallery: Islam Room / Case / # 42 / 4 / Royal Pastimes

Gallery: Sutton Hoo Room / Case / # 41 / 1 / SG Trading for exquisite art

Gallery: Sutton Hoo Room / Case / # 41 / 21 / What do nomads leave behind?

Gallery: Sutton Hoo Room / Case / # 41 / 2 / Stories from the world

Gallery: Europe 1050-1500 Room / Case / # 40 / 5 / Trades in Tusks and Toys

Gallery: Clocks Room / Case / # 39 / 5 / Dinner is served

Gallery: Clocks Room / Case / # 39 / 5 / Europe pays Tribute to the Ottomans

Gallery: Money Room / Case / # 68 / 12 / Coffee Shop Loyalty Schemes are nothing new

Gallery: Money Room / Case / # 68 / 9 Paper Money was invented in China

Gallery: Greek and Roman Life Room / Case / # 69 / 25 / Beware Pirates

Gallery: Roman Empire Room / Case / # 70 / 14 / High demand for beautifying products

Gallery: Cyprus Room / Case / # 72 / 17 / Trade in Metals

Gallery: India Room / Case / # 33 / 69A/ The Tiger of Mysore

Gallery: India Room / Case / # 33 / 62B / Tobacco becomes a la mode

Gallery: India Room / Case / # 33 / 64A / 1,2,3 State of the art medicine Medicine: All peoples hoped exotic products would cure their ills. A Goa stone was a real or man-made gall stone that was considered to have medicinal and talismanic properties and was exported to apothecaries in Europe from the […]

Gallery: India Room / Case / # 33 / 64A / Block Printed Textiles

Gallery: India Room / Case / # 33 / 50A / 6 What did the Romans do for Britain? What did the Romans do for Britain? Maybe introduced us to pepper? Spices for flavour and medicines have been popular traded items since the start of the Silk Roads. Initially sourced from India and then from […]

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / / Tea Trade defines the Silk Road. Tea Trade:  From  the  17th C, tea started to become a  defining commodity of the Silk Roads and Russia opened up the Siberian Tea Route to China which competed with the long sea route round Africa. Russian traders claimed, […]

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 34/ Clock Diplomacy The Jesuits in the 16th C  invented Clock Diplomacy as a way of getting into the Chinese court. This automaton table clock has both  musical and mechanical movements. The  front has a painted  ‘willow-pattern’ panel depicting a moving river scene with figures crossing […]

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 35 / A take away for the after life. These model food dishes provided the tomb occupant with the ingredients for a lavish meal to enjoy beyond the grave. Lavish in quality and style, not in quantity. These dishes are saucer size. Food was not just […]

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 34B / 6 The blue & white porcelain export trade to Europe Gin Bottle:  From the 14th C China manufactured blue & white porcelain for the export trade to Europe. This 31cm tall four-sided porcelain bottle is in the highly popular underglaze blue decoration. The bottle […]

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 33A / 4 The new wine trade This large stoneware flask would probably have been used in a wine shop. It is 43cms tall and 34cms wide so over a foot in each dimension. Western travellers in the 13th C noted that the Mongol Chinese enjoyed […]

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 28/ 5 Beauty products have always been in demand

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 26 / 15 Beware Fake News 

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 27A / Writing was established in China by 1200 BCE 

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 27A/ 4 China Invented Paper & Printing: 

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 31/ Unearthing the Past: Tombs, hoards, monuments and writings tell us much of what we know of ancient times

Gallery: China Room / Case / # 33 / 31/ The location details for the object are shown above in red. The Room numbers and Gallery names should match the British Museum maps and signage. Not every object has a case number or an item-within-case number. This heading tells you the relevance of the object […]