STUDY SERIES | THE ART OF INDIA | IMAGINING INDIA: Queen Victoria's Durbar Room at Osborne House, Isle of Wight with Susan Scollay

In 1890, Queen Victoria added a luxurious, Indian-themed room to her favourite summer retreat at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

The Durbar Room, as it was known, housed the monarch’s extensive private collection of Indian art, displayed in glass cabinets set amongst grand mahogany furniture and magnificent hand-made carpets, made in Agra in the Persian manner.

The Durbar Room and other parts of Osborne House have recently been re-opened to the public after featuring in the 2017 film, Victoria & Abdul.

DR SUSAN SCOLLAY is an independent art historian specialising in Islamic art and culture and in historic textiles. She is a contributing editor to HALI, the prestigious, London-based journal of carpet, textile and Islamic art, and is a fellow of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain. Susan has lectured at The Johnston Collection since 2008 and in 2010 was guest curator of FLUID BORDERS: Ways of Seeing Oriental Rugs.

This lecture is a part of THE ART OF INDIA STUDY SERIES. Presented by well-known art, social and cultural historians, the ART OF INDIA study series will explore the artistic, social and cultural worlds where objects, interiors and design meet.

The lectures and events will consider how historical contemporary ideas connect and convey meanings that celebrate culture in the making.

detail of The Durbar Room (1890-92), Osborne House, England which Queen Victoria commissioned the design from John Lockwood Kipling in 1890