I live nearby and the museum is a favorite of mine but I suppose I'd got into a habit of always visiting the same few areas, always turning right at this corner, left at that. Imagine my surprise recently when I discovered a huge part of the V&A, that's been lurking up a set of stairs since 2001, that I'd never seen before.
The British Galleries of the V&A
The British Galleries, spread across two floors of the museum, explore British design and applied arts from 1500 to 1900. It's all arranged in exhibits that mix treasures from all over the V&A collections in rooms that put each period in context. You'll find clothing worn by a man or a women near their personal objects, their jewels, the furnishings and wall coverings they lived with.A Touchy Feely Sort of Place
A good deal of thought has been put into the ways visitors want or need to interact with the exhibits, so a variety of methods are available. One exhibit might have a touch screen computer with more information or digital images that allow you to better see the object. Another will have an audio element, with a phone you can pick up and listen to. In a particularly dark room, we found a light wand to help us see the detail on a 16th century book. Particularly precious drawings and paintings are housed in darkened cabinets that you can open yourself to get a better look.A large jewel, given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Francis Drake, is displayed in a glass box - so that you can see both sides of it - alongside a painting of Drake wearing the jewel.
Next to a case full of Elizabethan miniatures, a film illustrates the process of making a "ruby" for a miniature of Elizabeth I that is actually in the case. You can watch a craftsman apply a small patch of silver leaf and cover it with a droplet of reddish resin and voila, a sparkling "jewel" has been created.
Accessiblility has been provided as well. The galleries are spacious, doorways are wide and there are discreet braille plaques and objects visitors are invited to touch throughout the exhibition.
Wonderful Things
There was so much to see and do, we only managed to get as far as the 1700s.I can't wait to go back to see the rest. Here some more of the items that caught my eye:- Henry VIII's writing desk
- The Great Bed of Ware A huge four poster bed that was so famous in its day that Shakespeare mentioned it in Twelfth Night. The bed, which was located at an inn, was used by the innkeeper as an advertisement - much as the best bed in the house usually features in hotel brochures and websites to this day. But the key feature of the Great Bed of Ware was not its luxury but its capacity. As many as 26 people were said to have slept on it at one time.
- The Mortlake Tapestry Royal patronage and immigrant Flemish weavers produced some of the finest tapestries made in Europe in the 16th and 17th century. The tapestry, shown near a copy of a famous Van Dyke portrait of Charles I, was part of a portable set, meant to be taken from palace to palace when the king traveled.
- James III's wedding suit
- Drawings by Inigo Jones The pen and ink architectural pictures are kept in a set of drawers that you can open to get nose to nose with one of the 17th century's most famous draftsmen and designers.
- Embroidery covered chests One was covered with slices of mica so clear and sparkling that, at first, I thought museum curators had wrapped it in sheets of acetate.
- A tiny painting of St. Thomas More with his family After a famous painting by Holbein but actually painted by the saint's grandson - who added subsequent generations and members of his own family. A digital touch screen nearby offers a close up view of each figure.
- Work by Britain's top artisans, designers and craftsmen - Grinling Gibbons, William Morris, Robert Adam, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
V&A Essentials
- Address: Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
- London Underground stop:South Kensington on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines.
- Telephone: +44 (0)207 942 2000
- Admission: Free
- Visit their website
- Open:Every day, 10a.m. to 5:45p.m., late openings on Friday until 10 p.m.
- Book a Private Tour of the V&A
