Vasco da Gama set sail in 1497 on a quest for highly prized spices from the East. His discovery of the sea route to India established, for the first time, direct contact between Europe and East Asia, ushering in a period of rich commercial and artistic exchange. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the V&A in Autumn 2004 (23 September-5 December 2004), this sumptuously illustrated volume traces the links between these two cultures over three centuries and explores their ongoing fascination with each other - a fascination that persists to this day. The book is divided into three sections: Discoveries is about exploration from East to West and from West to East; Encounters deals with relationships - diplomatic, missionary and personal - highlighting some of the colourful characters that inhabited this period of history; while Exchanges focuses on trade, particularly in luxury goods, which gave rise to a cross-fertilisation of styles and tastes. This resulted in some truly remarkable works of art, some of which are illustrated here for the first time.