Copy the page URI to the clipboard
Barnes, Amy Jane
(2011).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315787312-29
Abstract
The Opium Wars had been forced by Britain in retaliation for the Chinese court's refusal to allow the legal importation of opium from the Indian poppy fields. In the wake of the Opium Wars, and coinciding with colonial expansion and heightened popular patriotism and confidence in the British Empire, ideas about China began to shift from the admiration of the previous centuries. This chapter argues that this new, negative attitude was consolidated by the international exhibitions and newly established public museums that became such a defining feature of Victorian cultural life. In turn, exhibitions reflected back a particular self-image and conception of British nationhood. The chapter focuses upon the now little-known Celebrated Chinese Collection, but also considers the display of Chinese material at the Great Exhibition of 1851; the South Kensington Museum; and the symbolic representation of China at the Albert Memorial.
Viewing alternatives
Metrics
Public Attention
Altmetrics from AltmetricNumber of Citations
Citations from DimensionsItem Actions
Export
About
- Item ORO ID
- 69039
- Item Type
- Book Section
- Academic Unit or School
-
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities > Art History
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) - Copyright Holders
- © 2011 The Editors, © 2011 The Authors
- Depositing User
- Amy Jane Barnes