“The Oriental Collection” consists of a variety of different styles during the centuries, all with exotic influences from far away places. The colours for precious materials, woven carpets, luxurious textiles etc came to Europe through trade with the caravan groups already in medieval times and accumulated during the Renaissance when the craving for luxury and more comfort was increased. Fortified castles with meter thick walls were very cold, dark and damp inside as a rule and thick woven textiles and carpets with oriental patterns helped to make life more bare able in these enormous forbidding dwellings. The discovery of new continents and trade routs brought home precious stones, exotic plants, paintings of colourful birds and drawings of exotic interiors which greatly influenced the different historical styles; the acantus leafs during the Baroque era, the sea shells during the Rococo, the discovery of Herculaneum in 1709 and Pompeii in 1748 and their later excavations starting in 1755 led to “the Neo -Classical style”. The East Indian Company trade with China during the 18th century led to “the Chinoiserie style” and Napoleon´s field campaign in Egypt led to “the Empire style” influenced from the wallpaintings found inside the pyramides with details of Pharaonic interiors and furniture. Then came the 19th century with the colonization and the new fantastic ways of traveling by faster boats and trains which opened up a whole new contact with far away places like India, China, Japan and Northern Africa which led to “the Japanese style”, “the Moorish style” etc.
The luxurious fabrics/ textiles used in “The Oriental Collection” all mirror these different exotic styles as mentioned above. The quality of the materials used and all details such as trimmings etc, are the same as in “The Palace Collection”. ( see introduction text for “The Palace Collection”.)