Porcelain lions, nine-tiered pagodas and a lotus-shaped chandelier feature in Buckingham Palace's newly refurbished east wing, which has opened to the public for the first time in its 175-year history.
The east wing at London's Buckingham Palace, which opened this month, houses a series of decadent interconnected rooms including the centre room, which leads to the palace's famed balcony overlooking the Mall.
Buckingham Palace's east wing has opened to the public for the first time in its history
Originally built by Edward Blore between 1847 and 1849 to "provide space for Queen Victoria's growing family", the wing encloses what was previously a U-shaped courtyard, according to the Royal Collection Trust.
After five years of restoration work by the trust's curators and conservators, involving the temporary removal of over 3,500 artworks and other objects, the wing has opened to the public as part of the palace's State Rooms tours that take place every summer. Nine-tiered Chinese pagodas feature in the yellow drawing room
A duo of Chinese pagodas with nine ornate tiers characterise the yellow drawing room, named for its sunny drapes and sofas, which includes hand-painted wallpaper that was "painstakingly" cleaned and conserved by the team.
A "kylin clock" ? complete with turquoise porcelain lions and a tiny Japanese hotei, or god of luck ? also sits on the room's gold-trimmed mantlepiece.
There is also a clock decorated with porcelain lions
Elsewh...