Routledge Chinese Art Objects & Interior Design in Twentieth-Century Britain

This scholarly examination traces the collecting practices and aesthetic influence of Chinese ceramics in British interior design during the mid-twentieth century, with particular focus on the transformative years surrounding the Second World War. The study centres on the Ionides Collection of European-style Chinese export porcelain, a significant assemblage defined by its distinctive design hybridity. Through the perspectives of collectors, designers and cultural tastemakers, the book investigates how Chinese porcelain functioned as a material agent across multiple contexts, from seventeenth-century Batavia to twentieth-century Britain. The work engages with broader questions of cultural identity, examining the complex intersections between Chineseness and Britishness as reflected in collecting practices and interior design choices. Published by Routledge as part of The Histories of Material Culture and Collecting, 1700-1950 series, this volume offers scholars and students of art history, design, and cultural studies essential insights into how material objects shaped aesthetic sensibilities and identity construction in Britain.