Client: Chitra Collection
Location: Bank of England Museum, London
Size: 102 sqm
Timeframe: 2026
Location: Bank of England Museum, London
Size: 102 sqm
Timeframe: 2026
A temporary exhibition at the Bank of England Museum exploring how tea - once a rare and costly import from Asia - became woven into the fabric of British social and cultural life.
Developed in collaboration with the Chitra Collection, the exhibition brings together historic tea wares, silver, ceramics and archival material to reveal the global trade networks, colonial histories and domestic rituals connected to tea drinking in Britain.
The display is arranged as a continuous tablescape, inviting visitors into intimate encounters with the stories told through the tea wares themselves. Interpretation is structured around a thematic narrative, encouraging visitors to draw connections between trade, empire, domestic life and collecting.
Large-scale contextual imagery - from tea plantations in China and maritime trade routes to scenes of domestic tea drinking - forms a backdrop to the displayed objects, situating the collection within broader global histories. Flowing table graphics inspired by tea as liquid subtly evoke oceans, trade routes and wave patterns, reinforcing the movement of commodities and ideas across continents.
The exhibition palette draws from deep shades of tea, bronze and gold, reflecting both the material richness of the objects and the historical connections between tea, commerce and the institutional setting of the Bank of England Museum.
Despite a modest programme and budget, the project aimed to deliver a refined, museum-quality visitor experience through close collaboration between curator, designer and fabricator.
Exhibition Design: Su Koh Design
Fabrication: Full Scale Production
Photography: Bound
Fabrication: Full Scale Production
Photography: Bound
