Chinoiserie: The Art of the Exotic in the Royal Collection

Concentrating on the decorative arts, and in particular on the Oriental porcelain in the Royal Collection, Nicola Turner Inman will take us on a historical journey through “Chinoiserie” pieces in the Collection, looking at what the term means and in what different styles it took form.  She will focus on royal patrons across the centuries, their collecting preferences and passions and what national and international forces — such as political and diplomatic events — drew them to collect such objects at the time and helped them shape today’s Collection.  She also will discuss how the importation of these Asian objects into Europe not only influenced Western art, but also encouraged technological developments in the decorative arts and how royal patronage has had a resounding effect and a lasting impact.

Nicola Turner Inman is a Curator of Decorative Arts for the Royal Collection Trust.  After studying Art History at the University of St Andrews, she began her career with an internship at the Royal Collection Trust. She then joined Christie’s in London, where she spent time working in the Print Department and completed a postgraduate diploma at Christie’s Education. Her next position was with Gurr Johns, a leading client advisory and art valuation firm, and she subsequently returned to the Royal Collection Trust in 2013. In the past five years, as part of her role, she has been involved in the Reservicing Programme of Buckingham Palace, a 10-year phased program of works to improve the essential services in the Palace and make it fit for purpose for the next 50 years. Her involvement also has included project-managing the loan by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

Image: One of a Pair of Chinese Porcelain Celadon-Glazed Vases, 1736-95, with gilt-bronze mounts, late 18th or early 19th-century (probably French).  Decorated in white slip with prunus and peonies, six-character mark in underglaze-blue: Da Qing Qianlong na zhi (“Made in the reign of the Qianlong emperor of the Great Qianlong” written in seal script).  Height overall 22 13/16” (58 cm.).  (RCIN 2378) Photo Credit: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.