This is the sixth in a series of guest blog posts that I will be sharing with my readers, and this week it is Stolen Attic's turn to write the blog! A small group of us, all with different backgrounds and geographical locations, have come together in an effort to share our combined vintage knowledge with all who love the vintage/antique world as we do. Visit all of us at the Vintage & Antiques Community on G+ .
Brexit, A Brief History Of The UK's Wordly Connections: Amy and Dawid of Stolen Attic have used Brexit to regale us with an informative post on how immigration has shaped our love of Vintage and Antiques.
In light of the current political situation of Brexit affecting the UK and large parts of Europe we thought we would explore some of the history of the UK and its relationships with Europe and other countries around the world.
Whether you are Pro-Brexit or Anti-Brexit for centuries the UK has been connected with other parts of the world, much farther back than any of us have had the grace of living to see, so whether you love it or you hate it the connections are here to stay.
Some of the key points of Brexit were immigration and trade yet there has been a long standing history of both, here we cover some light facts on the history of the UK’s international relationships.
The UK as a whole has had settlement of people from all over the world as early as the 1st century with the invasion of the Romans, there was also the vikings around the 8th century.
There was first a Jewish population in the UK around 1070.
The first African people to settle in England arrived early in the 16th century, first in London, below is an engraving by popular artist William Hogarth, 1738, entitled; Four Times of the Day: Noon, the engraving clearly depicts black London resident.
In the 16th century there began to be a population of migrants from South Asia and at the start of the 17th Century the East India Company brought over thousands of South Asian Scholars many settling with European wives and commencing life on the island.
King George I was the King of Great Britain and also King of Ireland from 1 August 1714 along with being the ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Hanover, he was born in Hanover (Germany) and he spent around a fifth of his reign there, King George II and III all shared similar connections with Germany.
During the 19th Century there was immigration from a number of British Colonies with many being from Eastern Europe and Russia.
Queen Victoria’s beloved prince Albert was German, following his death the Queens beloved best friend was Indian, there was a surge in popularity in the 19th century for Anglo-Indian decorative arts, below is an Anglo-Indian Vizagatapam, these decorative boxes were all the rage in the Victorian era and are highly prized antiques of the period today.
Charles Darwin was famed for his studies around the globe and his works saw an interest in the new and exotic discoveries, without this history we would be without many of the beautiful antique treasures we see today.
The WW’s saw migrants enter the UK from a multitude of countries.
Trade is as old as civilisation, before currency trade existed and goods and wares were traded for other goods and wares.
In 1066 England had a number of important economic trade centre towns and were already trading with France, The Netherlands and Germany to name but a few.
As early as the 12th century marketplaces in London were providing consumers with luxury and exotic goods such as spices, weapons, precious gems and textiles such as silks and furs, all of which were a product of international trade.
Integration and trade with different countries has not just shaped but built the history we know today, in the world of antiques and vintage there can be worldly influences felt at each step of the journey, whether we like it or not trade is essential to all countries of the world in order to maintain economic stability, influences and skills that we learn from each other enrich our lives by providing us with the best from all corners of the globe.
At StolenAttic trade and history are at the heart of what we do and what we love!
If you would like to see more then you can visit our website where you can find a number of our treasures for sale, along with some more interesting and informative blog posts from sellers from around the globe!
You can also find us on social media by following the links below.
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107037894537745992880
Thank you to Amy and Dawid for an interesting look at the influences of immigration on the art treasures of Europe and beyond.
The other contributors to our series of Vintage and Antique Related Guest Blogs are:-