Above: Victoria & Albert Museum

Last time, we talked about the great Science Museum of London. We discovered hi-tech inventions of the old times and were presented with great discoveries and advancements.

Today, we look back once more to those old times – through the artifacts of the V&A.

#4 Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum is the greatest museum of art and design in the world. It holds 5000 years’ worth of extraordinary artifacts – a comprehensive collection of ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewelry, costumes, silver, metal and ironwork, photographs, sculpture, textiles, prints and printmaking, paintings and drawings, and other medieval objects – all coming from the richest cultures in the world. These ancient and modern artifacts came from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.

Those artifacts mentioned above number in over 4.5 million pieces.

The museum was founded in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum (from where the Science Museum also originated). Since then, it has grown to 145 galleries – covering 12.5 acres of South Kensington land. It is one of the main parts of Albertopolis - an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance in London.

In 2001, the museum used over £150M for major renovations. Improvements included new galleries, gardens, shops and other visitor facilities.

The museum houses the world’s largest selection of post-classical sculptures – with their Italian Renaissance items being second to none other than Italy itself.

The Asian collections include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic countries – their Islamic collection being one of the largest in world alongside the Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This collection includes more than 160,000 objects – considered one of the biggest and most important in existence. They have the world’s most comprehensive collection of Chinese art and the most important collection of South Asian Art in the West.

Below: Ardabil carpet

The museum houses over 19,000 objects from the Islamic World - spanning from the early Islamic period (7th century) to the early 20th century. One of the newest collections from that department is the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, which opened in 2006. The collection of 400 objects has the Ardabil Carpet as the centerpiece (pictured above). There are only two known originals in existence, with the other one found in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The carpets were made in the mid-16^th century and are considered two of the best ever made and is probably the most famous of all Persian carpet designs – the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has a copy and so did Hitler in his Berlin headquarters.

The gallery has a number of Korans in display – some with exquisite calligraphy dating from various periods.

When you visit the gallery, make sure to have a look at the 10^th century ewer that was carved from a single rock crystal – considered as one of the masterpieces of Islamic Art.

As I mentioned earlier, the museum’s South and South-East Asian art collection is the most comprehensive and highly important in the West – with almost 60,000 objects (including 10,000 textiles and 6,000 paintings). There is also an extensive collection of religious sculptures – covering other Asian origin religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

They also house the art of the Mughal Empire – an Asian empire that ruled most of the subcontinent from the early 16^th to the mid 19^th century. This collection included fine portraits of its emperors and other paintings and drawings, jade wine cups and gold spoons that are inset with emeralds, diamonds and rubies.

Below: The Tipu’s Tiger

Be sure to check out the Tipu’s Tiger (pictured above) – a self-operating machine made in the late 1700’s in Mysore City, India. The automaton depicts a tiger mauling a soldier of the British East India Company. The mechanism was named after Sultan Fateh Ali Tipu, who is also known as the Tiger of Mysore. The operation of a crank handle powers the different mechanisms of the Tipu’s Tiger. It is widely believed that the scene was a depiction of the death of Hugh Munro, son of General Sir Hector Munro - who defeated the sultan in one of the battles of the Anglo-Mysore Wars. Hugh was attacked and killed by a tiger on the December 22, 1792.

The museum’s Far Eastern art collection includes more than 70,000 objects – coming from the culture rich East Asian countries of China, Japan, and Korea.

One of its galleries, the T.T. Tsui Gallery, is a collection of 16,000 objects from China. These artifacts cover a time period spanning from 4th millennium BC to the present day. The bulk of the collection came from Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912), with major pieces coming from the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907).

Some of the more notable pieces include a huge bronze Buddha head from 750AD, a 2,000 year old Jade sculpture of a horse head, and a number of life size tomb guardians. You definitely won’t miss one of the largest objects in the collection: a mid 17th century Chinese bed!

Below: Imari

The Toshiba gallery of Japanese art houses pieces dating from 1550 to 1900 – from Japanese armours to Katanas, Inros to lacquerware, Imari (Japanese porcelain: pictured above) to Netsuke (miniature sculptures that serve as containers: pictured below), and a number of woodblock prints - including the work of Ando Hiroshige, the greatest of all ukiyo-e artists.

Above: Statue from Japan

Don’t forget to check out the 2 meter high bronze koro (or incense burner) that was made in 1875. Made by Suzuki Chokichi, it is one of the largest koros in the world.

The smaller galleries in the area covers those from Korea (i.e. green-glazed ceramics, silk embroideries and mother-of-pearl boxes), the Himalayan kingdoms (Nepalese bronze sculptures, repoussé work and embroidery) and South East Asia (different art from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka – made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, terracotta or ivory).

There are a total of fifteen British galleries in the museum - containing almost 4,000 objects. The galleries, covering the 1500’s to 1900’s, fall into three major groups; Tudor and Stuart which covers the Renaissance, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration and Baroque styles; Georgian which covers Palladianism, Rococo, Chinoiserie, Neoclassicism, Regency, Gothic Revival; Victorian which covers the later more scholarly version of Gothic Revival, French influences, Classical and Renaissance revivals, Aestheticism, Japanese style, the Arts and Crafts movement and the Scottish School.

Some of the more notable artists whose works are in display are: Gian Lorenzo Bernini (pictured above: Neptune and Triton)

Louis Laguerre (pictured above: Psyche Giving Gifts to her Sisters)

John Constable (pictured above: Barges on the Stour, with Dedham Church in the distance)

Grinling Gibbons, Daniel Marot, Antonio Verrio, Sir James Thornhill, William Kent, Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam, Canaletto, Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton, Eleanor Coade, Canova, Thomas Chippendale, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, William Morris, William Burges, Charles Robert Ashbee, Christopher Dresser, James McNeill Whistler and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

In the collection are five rooms that were taken and preserved directly from demolished buildings: a parlor from the Old Palace Bromley-by-Bow dated 1606 - with carved Renaissance-style oak panelling, overmantel and richly decorated plaster ceiling; a parlor from 2 Henrietta Street, London dated 1727 and designed by James Gibbs - with an elaborate ceiling with inset paintings and carved fireplace; the Norfolk House Music Room from St. James Square, London dated 1756 and designed by Matthew Brettingham and Giovanni Battista Borra – with white paneling, ceiling with carved and gilded Rococo decoration, and matching mirrors; the Strawberry Room from Lee Priory Kent, dated 1783 and designed by James Wyatt – early Gothic inspired room; the Ante-room from The Grove Harborne, Birmingham dated 1877 and designed by John Henry Chamberlain - High-Victorian Neo-Gothic inspired.

Other notable works include: Pietro Torrigiani’s Bust of King Henry VII in colored terracotta - dated 1509 to 1511 (pictured above)

The Dacre Heraldic Beasts are carvings that stand 2 meters tall and are painted in realistic colors – dated 1519 to 1521 (pictured above)

The Great Bed of Ware is an elaborately carved four poster that could accommodate twelve people; with head board inlaid with marquetry – dated 1590–1600 (pictured above)

The portrait of Margaret Laton made by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger – dated c1620 (pictured above)

One of the most amazing parts of the museum is the Cast Courts – a two storey high room that houses hundreds of plaster casts of different sculptures, friezes and tombs. One of the biggest pieces in this area is the full-scale replica of Trajan’s Column (pictured below) which was cut in half in order to fit inside. There’s also a full-size replica of Michelangelo’s David and the Davids of both Donatello and Verrocchio.

The museum’s collection of ceramics is the largest in the modern world – with over 75,000 objects coming from all parts of the globe – covering each and every populated continent. Most of the objects came from Meissen - the first European factory to learn and make use of the Chinese method of making porcelain. Every porcelain factory during the 18^th century had a sample in the collection, and all the most important ones from the 19^th century. The Salting Bequest collection covered most of the Chinese and Japanese ceramics – again forming the finest collection in the world.

You won’t miss the largest objects in this collection: a series of ceramic stoves made in Germany and Switzerland during the 16th and 17th centuries – take note of their elaborate moldings and ornaments; and there are even those decorated with colored schemes.

Above: King James II with wedding suit

The museum also houses contemporary pieces from the most recent decades – which make it stand above the rest in terms of variety. Take note of the costume collection - the most comprehensive in Britain containing over 14,000 outfits including accessories. The designs range from the last four centuries to the latest in modern couture. One of the most important items in the collection is the wedding suit of King James II (pictured above) being displayed in the British Galleries. Other famous artists with work in the collection include modern day designers Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Zandra Rhodes, Mary Quant, Christian Lacroix, Jean Muir and Pierre Cardin.

The painting and drawing collection of the museum includes about 1130 British and 650 European oil paintings; 6800 British watercolors and pastels; and 2000 miniatures. On loan to the museum from Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II are the Raphael Cartoons: seven large cartoons that served as full scale designs for the tapestries in the Sistine Chapel. They were made by High Renaissance painter Raphael during the years 1515 to 1516. The scenes are all about the lives of Peter and Paul according to the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. The seven scenes are: The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, St Paul Preaching in Athens, Christ’s Charge to Peter, The Death of Ananias, The Healing of the Lame Man, The Conversion of the Proconsul, and The Sacrifice at Lystra.

The image below is Christ’s Charge to Peter.

The furniture collection covers Britain, Europe and America. They date back from the Middle Ages and contain over 14,000 items. Famous British designers with pieces in the collection include: William Kent, Henry Flitcroft, Matthias Lock, Thomas Chippendale, James Stuart, William Chambers, Robert Adam, John Gillow, James Wyatt, Thomas Hopper, Charles Heathcote Tatham, A.W.N. Pugin, William Burges, William Morris, Charles Voysey, Charles Robert Ashbee, Baillie Scott, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Edwin Lutyens, Edward Maufe, Wells Coates and Robin Day.

The glass collection covers over 4,000 years of glass making – with over 6,000 items from countries like Africa, Britain, Europe, America and Asia. The oldest of the glassworks came from Ancient Egypt. The Stained Glass collection is arguably the best in the world - with glassworks from well known stained glass designers like Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. Twentieth century items were made by Harry Clarke, John Piper, Patrick Reyntiens, Veronica Whall and Brian Clarke.

The collection of metal and ironwork total over 45,000 items - decorative wrought and cast ironwork, bronze, silverware, arms and armour, pewter, brassware and enamels.

Talking about the collections really took a while did it? That’s because the pieces are in the millions and almost all of them are worth mentioning.

But here comes the best part: admission to the Victoria and Albert Museum is absolutely free!

They are open 10.00 am to 5.00 pm daily and on Fridays they extend hours up until 10.00 pm. The museum is closed only on the 24^th, 25^th and 26^th of December every year.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is found in South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL with telephone number +44 (0)20 7942 2000. You can reach it through the South Kensington Tube. Here’s a detailed map on the location of the museum: