6500 BC Pottery in Turkey
Pottery fragments of this date survive in the neolithic site of Catal Huyuk

2500 BC First image of soldiers
The treasures found in the royal cemetery at Ur include a depiction of soldiers in copper helmets, armed with battleaxes

1450 BC Coloured glass an Egyptian luxury
Rich Egyptian households have the latest luxury items, small bottles of coloured glass to hold cosmetics

1400 BC Chinese excel in bronze
China produces superb bronzes, in the ritual vessels for sacrifices to the ancestors

850 BC Pottery glazes in Mesopotamia
The technique of glazing pottery is discovered in Mesopotamia, though used at this stage only for decorative arts arts purposes

600 BC Celtic metalwork at Hallstatt
The swirling decorative arts arts lines of Celtic metalwork at Hallstatt begin a tradition which lives on in illuminated manuscripts and stone Celtic crosses

550 BC Black-figure style in Greek vases
The painters of Greek vases develop the black-figure style, with the scene depicted in black silhouette against a red ground

500 BC Persian carpet in prince's tomb
A Persian rug, woven with a knotted pile, is placed in the tomb of a Scythian chieftain and survives to this day

500 BC Tree yields secret of lacquer
The secret of lacquer, the sap of a tree which can be hardened by moisture, is discovered in China

500 BC Red-figure style in Greek vases
The new and more sophisticated fashion in Greek vases is the red-figure style

500 BC Nok terracotta figures
Nok terracotta figures, found in modern Nigeria, stand at the beginning of the rich tradition of African sculpture

200 BC Mochica pottery sculpture
The Mochica develop a civilization, in the north of modern Peru, known for its realistic pottery sculpture

540 Carpet commissioned by Persian emperor
Khosrau I commissions a spectacular Spring Carpet for the floor of his hall of audience in Ctesiphon

700 Secret of porcelain
The discovery of the technique of porcelain, the most delicate of all forms of pottery, is made in China

750 T'ang pottery figures
T'ang potters make vigorous and brightly coloured figures, of horses, camels or human attendants, to accompany the dead in the grave

800 Carolingian minuscule
The script known as Carolingian minuscule (basis of the modern roman typeface) is developed by Alcuin and his scribes at the monastery of Tours

816 Utrecht Psalter
Work begins in Rheims on the Utrecht Psalter, an outstanding example of the Carolingian illuminated manuscript

1066 Marvellous comet appears
Halley's comet, appearing in the Normans' annus mirabilis, is later depicted in the Bayeux tapestry

1080 Work begins on Bayeux tapestry
Work begins on the story of the Norman conquest, narrated in embroidery in the Bayeux tapestry

1100 Celadons in China
Chinese potters in the Song dynasty develop the wares known as celadons, with thick transparent green glazes

1200 Terracotta figures in Jenne
Terracotta heads and figures are buried in graves in the region of Djenné in modern Mali

1250 Seto the centre of Japanese ceramics
A Japanese potter, returning from China, makes Seto the centre of ceramic production in Japan

1300 Tea Ceremony in Japan
The formalities of the Tea Ceremony demand equivalently exquisite wares from the Japanese potters

1350 Underglaze blue perfected at Jingdezhen
The classic Chinese underglaze blue is perfected in the imperial ceramic factory at Jingdezhen

1400 Majolica in Italy
Majolica, or tin-glazed earthenware, reaches Italy from Majorca and thus gets its name

1500 Faenza earthenware
Faenza becomes the main centre for the production of the Italian tin-glazed earthenware known as majolica

1500 Istoriato style in majolica
Ceramic artists in Italy decorate large majolica dishes with scenes of narrative history, giving this style the name istoriato

1575 Porcelain of a kind in Florence
Soft-paste porcelain, in imitation of true porcelain from China, is successfully created for the Medici in Florence

1588 Bowl called raku
The shogun's Tea Master awards a gold seal with the one word raku ('felicity') to a beautiful bowl, thus naming Japan's most famous ware

1620 Delft goes blue and white
Delft becomes the centre for tin-glazed earthenware in nothern Europe, specializing in the blue-and-white Chinese style

1662 Gobelin workshops developed for king
Jean-Baptiste Colbert buys the Gobelin family workshops in Paris and transforms them into a royal factory for Louis XIV

1670 Kakiemon porcelain in Japan
Members of the Sakaida Kakiemon family are producing exquisitely decorated porcelain ware in Japan

1675 Dutch bring Kakiemon to Europe
Dutch traders purchase Kakiemon wares in Japan for import to the Netherlands

1690 Chinoiserie in fashion
Chinoiserie becomes the new craze in Europe, after Jesuit reports of the Chinese civilization

1708 Secret of porcelain found in Dresden
The secret of true porcelain is at last discovered in the west, at Dresden, by Johann Friedrich Böttger

1720 France pioneers rococo
The lighter rococo style, beginning in France, becomes an extension of the baroque

1759 Wedgwood sets up on his own
Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood sets up a factory of his own in his home town of Burslem

1775 Goya designs tapestries
Francisco de Goya begins a series of designs for tapestries to be made in Spain's Royal Tapestry Factory

1807 Hope's Household Furniture
English collector Thomas Hope publishes his Greek and Egyptian designs in Household Furniture and Interior Decoration

1835 Pugin and the Gothic Revival
English architect and designer Augustus Welby Pugin plays a major part in the second stage of the Gothic Revival

1900 Mackintosh exhibits in Vienna
Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife exhibit together at the Sezession show in Vienna

1901 Ingram Street Tea Rooms
Charles Rennie Mackintosh designs the interior of Miss Cranston's Ingram Street Tea Rooms in Glasgow

1903 Willow Tea Rooms
Charles Rennie Mackintosh completes the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow for Miss Cranston

1909 Leach moves to Japan
Bernard Leach moves to Japan to study oriental traditions in the graphic arts

1909 Lalique moves from jewellery to glass
René Lalique, originally known for his jewellery, sets up his own glass-making factory at Combes-la-Ville

1911 Klimt mosaics for Palais Stoclet
Austrian artist Gustav Klimt completes his designs for mosaics in the Palais Stoclet in Brussels

1911 Leach throws his first pot
Bernard Leach discovers his skill and future craft at a raku party in Japan, where each guest is invited to throw a pot

1918 Rietveld Chair
Dutch designer Gerrit Rietveld produces his 'Red and Blue Chair', under the influence of the De Stijl movement

1920 Leach and Hamada move to England
The Japanese potter Shoji Hamada accompanies Bernard Leach on his return to England

1920 Bernard Leach settles in St Ives
On his return to Britain from the far east, Bernard Leach sets up a pottery studio in St Ives

1925 Art Deco
A fashionable new style, Art Deco, derives its name from a Paris exhibition called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs Industriels et Modernes

1926 Michael Cardew in Winchcombe
English potter Michael Cardew sets up a studio at Winchcombe, in Gloucestershire

1927 Clarice Cliff's 'Bizarre' range
28-year old Staffordshire potter Clarice Cliff launches a range of highly coloured geometric designs that she calls Bizarre Ware

1928 Breuer chair
Marcel Breuer, working at the Bauhaus, designs the classic version of his tubular-steel cantilever chair their homesr

1929 Barcelona Chair
Mies van der Rohe designs his famous Barcelona Chair for the German pavilion at the Barcelona World Fair

1931 Latest fashion – the built-up shoulder
Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli introduces a successful new line for women in the form of the padded shoulder

1936 Balenciaga moves to Paris
The Spanish Civil War causes the Basque designer Cristobal Balenciaga to move his business to Paris, capital of the fashion world

1938 Aalto's stacking stool
Finnish designer Alvar Aalto develops a bent plywood three-legged stool, specifically designed for stacking

1940 A Potter's Book
English potter Bernard Leach publishes an influential manual, A Potter's Book

1940 Moulded chair by Eames and Saarinen
Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen design an 'organic chair' for mass production in moulded plywood and aluminium

1940 Henry Moore's scenes in the underground
Working as an official war artist, Henry Moore creates an iconic series of drawings of Londoners sleeping at night in underground stations

1954 Sutherland's portrait of Churchill
A painting by Graham Sutherland, commissioned for Winston Churchill's 80th birthday, does not meet with the full approval of the sitter or his wife

1956 Eames Lounge Chair
The husband-and-wife team Charles and Ray Eames design a much copied lounge chair and footstool, made of moulded plywood with padded leather cushions

1962 Coventry's new cathedral
Coventry's new cathedral is inaugurated, enhanced by a wide range of work by leading British artists

1966 Miniskirt in UK
British fashion designer Mary Quant launches the miniskirt