Furniture from British India and Ceylon

Book excerpt: This reference for collectors, dealers, and scholars discusses colonial Indian furniture and the material culture of British India, in which local craftsmen used their skills to adapt to Western styles, producing a hybrid form which is in some ways typically English but unmistakably Indian. The four chapters by Jaffer (research fellow, Victoria and Albert Museum) provide a contextual background and discuss life in early British India, furnishings and the domestic interior, the availability and acquisition of furniture, and the Indian consumption of Western furniture and decorative articles. The catalogue contains color and b & w illustrations of 200 pieces from the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum, accompanied by descriptions, historical details, and notes on provenance, literature, exhibitions, and other relevant facts. Oversize: 9.5x11.25". Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR