Secrets of the V&A

The Victoria and Albert Museum - Collection Highlights

The Victoria and Albert Museum - known as the V&A - is the world’s greatest museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. The V&A’s collections of artefacts from many of the world’s richest cultures continue to intrigue, inspire and inform. The Museum’s collections span over two thousand years of human creativity, in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world and include paintings, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, furniture, fashion and textiles, theatre and performance, photography, glass, jewellery and metalwork. The collections are drawn from across Europe and include world-class holdings from the Middle East, India, China and Japan.The V&A is currently undergoing a dramatic programme of renewal and restoration.

The V&A is currently undergoing a dramatic programme of renewal and restoration to create beautiful new galleries and displays. Work began in 2001 and now over 15 new galleries have opened. Throughout 2009 more galleries will open including Theatre and Performance Galleries (opening March), 7 refurbished Ceramics Galleries (opening September) and 10 new galleries, occupying almost an entire wing of the Museum, will present the V&A’s remarkable treasures from the Medieval and Renaissance periods (opening November).

Tutti frutti bandeau

This ruby, saphire, emerald and diamond bandeau belonged to Lady Mountbatten and is one of the star objects on display in the V&A’s new William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery. A triumph of Art Deco jewellery, this multi-gem headband is in the form of a sinuous creeper, the stem set with diamonds and the leaves and fruit formed of carved Indian jewels. It could be worn either across the forehead or as two bracelets.

Tutti frutti bandeau

Great Bed of Ware

This enormous, three metre wide bed is one of the most celebrated in history and is even mentioned in Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’. Made in 1590, it is twice the size of a normal bed of the period and is rumoured to have slept half a dozen couples at once! On display in the V&A’s British Galleries, it takes its name from the town of Ware in Hertfordshire and is thought to have been made as a tourist attraction for one of the great inns in Ware. Like many tourist attractions the wooden frame has graffiti carved into it and stamped wax seals made by the many people who slept in the bed. Although only traces of the original colour now remain, the bed would have been richly painted and lavishly dressed with hangings, bedspreads and curtains.

The Great Bed of Ware

Tippoo’s Tiger

This model of a tiger devouring a European man belonged to the Indian ruler Tipu Sultan of Mysore and is now on display in the V&A’s Nehru Gallery of Indian Art. It was commissioned as a symbol of the Sultan’s authority and as a reflection of his opposition to British rule. The tiger is made of carved and painted wood, seen in the act of devouring a prostrate European man. Inside the tiger and the man are weighted bellows with pipes attached. Turning the handle pumps the bellows and controls the air-flow to simulate the growls of the tiger and cries of the victim.

Tippoo's Tiger

Ardabil Carpet

The Ardabil carpet is the world’s oldest dated carpet and one of the largest, most beautiful and historically important carpets in the world. It was bought by the V&A on the advice of William Morris in 1892 who described it as “a remarkable work of art … the design is of singular perfection“. One of the great treasures of Islamic art, the carpet is now the centre-piece of the V&A’s new Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. It was commissioned as one of a pair by the ruler of Iran, Shah Tahmasp, for the shrine of his ancestor, Shaykh Safi al-Din, in the town of Ardabil in north-west Iran. It is inscribed at one end with the date 946 in the Muslim calendar, which is equivalent to 1539-40. Its whole surface is covered by a single unified design, an outstanding achievement in any period.

Ardabil Carpet in the Jameel Gallery

Vivienne Westwood’s ‘Watteau’ Evening Dress

The V&A has collected fashionable dress and accessories since its earliest days. The collection focuses on fashion from the 17th century to the present day and features many of the most recognizable looks of the past centuries. Designers continue to explore the past for inspiration, and here Vivienne Westwood looks to the 18th century French artist Antoine Watteau. This formal evening dress echoes the gowns seen in his paintings, with their petticoats worn over side hoops and double box pleats at the back, yet its deliberate asymmetry gives it a contemporary look.

Watteau evening dress

Magnificence of The Tsars

Ceremonial Men’s Dress of the Russian Imperial Court, 1721-1917

From the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums

10 December 2008 - 29 March 2009

Detail of Red wool coat with silver embroidery worn by Peter II, 1727-30.

The grandeur of Imperial Russia comes to the V&A this winter with an exhibition of the dress and uniforms of Emperors and officials of the Russian court. The exhibition spans a period of almost two centuries and includes more than 100 garments from the Moscow Kremlin Museums’ collections. Exploring the influences and crossovers between military uniform, court dress, European fashion and traditional Russian dress, the exhibition presents the power and majesty of masculine uniform at its finest.

BOOK NOW

Online at www.vam.ac.uk/tsars

In person at the V&A in advance or on day of visit

Full: £5. Concessions and family tickets available

20% off ticket price for ion Oxford readers, simply take your Oxford tube ticket or pass to the V&A ticket desk.

Offer on full price tickets only and valid until 29/03/09. Subject to availability and not to be used with any other offer.