Bunhill: Echoes of the Raj at V&A: A vestige of empire rides into London in a display of historic Indian art

Overcoming such minor setbacks as the Indian Mutiny and the loss of empire, the East India Company announces its return to business with an exhibition next month at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The original 'Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies' - known by rich and poor alike as the East India Company - was wound up in 1874. The announcement of its death was a formality, for it had been mortally wounded by the Indian Mutiny of 1857, which finally convinced Westminster that it was an absurdity for a private company to run the Raj.

The East India Company sponsoring the V&A exhibition, 'Company Paintings', is a resurrection of the original entity and uses its logo. The brainchild of adman and entrepreneur David Hutton, the new company aims to launch a series of luxury products that will use the old name as a byword for quality.

The main shareholder is Barry's Tea of Ireland, so it's no surprise that the first of these products will be tea, followed by an alcoholic beverage (the company won't say what, but it's probably gin), then toiletries, luggage, spices and luxury tours. 'We'll be building rickshaws next,' said an excited Tony Wild, director of the East India Company's UK division, whose lecture on the mystery and myths behind Earl Grey tea promises to be a high point of the V&A exhibition.

It is fitting that the East India Company's first exhibit should be in the Nehru Gallery at the V&A. This is the museum that inherited the vast collection of decorative arts that belonged to the original East India Company. While Wild tells us about the skulduggery associated with Earl Grey tea, he should watch his back. The most alarming East India Company exhibit at the V&A is the ferocious Tipu's Tiger.