Borrowed Landscapes: China and Japan in the Historic Houses and Gardens of Britain and Ireland

A beautifully illustrated exploration of the impact of Chinese and Japanese material culture on the historic houses and gardens of Britain and Ireland.

The art and ornament of China and Japan have had a deep impact in the British Isles. From the seventeenth century onwards, the design and decoration of interiors and gardens in Britain and Ireland was profoundly influenced by the importation of Chinese and Japanese luxury goods, while domestic designers and artisans created their own fanciful interpretations of 'oriental' art. Those hybrid styles and tastes have traditionally been known as chinoiserie and japonisme, but they can also be seen as elements of the wider and still very relevant phenomenon of orientalism, or the way the West sees the East.

Illustrated with a wealth of new photography and filled with hitherto little-researched objects and environments, this engaging survey of orientalism in the historic houses and gardens of the National Trust across England, Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrates how elements of Chinese and Japanese culture were simultaneously desired and misunderstood, dismembered and treasured, idealised and caricatured.