Cathay on the Thames

This chinoiserie scenic mural is inspired by a rare surviving tile panel comprised of 55 delft (tin-glazed earthenware) tiles. The tile panel was originally one of a set of six made at a pottery on the south bank of the Thames about 1725. The six tile pictures hung in a house in the Lambeth area of London (near the pottery where the tiles were made) about 1800. Our mural is based on a panel in the Colonial Williamsburg collection. These scenes show how the English were powerfully impressed and influenced by imported Chinese porcelains made for the Western market. British artisans and patrons expressed their admiration for Chinese design by emulating and adapting original Chinese art and decorative objects. The inaugural WILLIAMSBURG Mural Collection X Paul Montgomery re-envisions the rich design archive of Colonial Williamsburg the world's largest living history museum, within a modern sensibility. Sales of WILLIAMSBURG products support Colonial Williamsburg's missions of education, preservation, and engaged citizenship – That the future may learn from the past.