Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs: Chintz - a podcast by ABC Radio

'Oh chintzy, chintzy cheeriness,' runs a line in John Betjemen's poem Death in Leamington, published in 1932. It encapsulates a genteel interior with its china ornaments and floral fabrics. That cheeriness is ironic; he means cheerlessness. But why chintzy? And come to that, what exactly is chintz?

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