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Ideal for carrying cosmetics or jewellery, these wash bags have been handmade from polyester velvet and cotton with a waterproof lining in Hanoi, Vietnam. These workers partner with fairtrade organisation Just Trade, which ensures they are paid fairly for their craft. Each bag is cut from a larger piece of fabric, meaning each one shows a different portion of the design.
Recreated in watercolour by artist Sarah Carpenter, the four orchid species on this fabric were originally brought to the UK on board Brunel's ship. Victorian botanists used new technology - the Wardian Case - to transport exotic plants back to Europe. There they would fill the conservatories and glass houses of the wealthy.
The impact of this new trade in botany can still be felt today. Nurserymen like Thomas Lang also used steamships like the SS Great Britain to take native European crops and plants out to Australia. In their own way, these plants formed part of European colonisation.
In the UK, many of the plant species now familiar to us first arrived on our shores as part of this Victorian fascination with botany.
