Victoria and Albert Museum

 

South Kensington, London, opened in 1852 as the Museum of Manufacturers at Marlborough House. It originally contained a nucleus of contemporary objects of applied art bought from the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the instigation of the Prince Consort, and collections from the Government School of Design. The collection was soon expanded to include objects of all styles and periods, and the name was changed to Museum of Ornamental Art. In 1857 it was moved to its present site in South Kensington, to become part of the collective museum known as the South Kensington Museum. The present building, designed by Sir Aston Webb, was begun in 1899, at which time the museum was given its present name by Queen Victoria. When this building was opened in 1909, it became purely an art museum; the scientific collections were renamed the Science Museum. The museum embraces the Royal College of Art, an extensive art library, and the collections of the India Museum, which it absorbed. Its collections of paintings and sculpture (especially of early Italian works) are celebrated; other collections of note include ceramics, glass, jewelry, textiles, medieval enamels, ivories, miniatures, metalwork, engravings, and furniture. Raphael's cartoons for the Sistine Chapel tapestries are among its most famous treasures.

The Victoria and Albert Museum
Established	1852
Location	Cromwell Gardens, South Kensington, London
Collection size	4.6 million objects
Museum area	12.5 acres / 145 galleries
Visitor figures	2,400,000 (2006) [1]
Director	Mark Jones
Nearest tube station(s)	South Kensington
Website	www.vam.ac.uk

The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest and finest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Founded in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum, the V&A has since grown to now cover some 12.5 acres^[2] and 145 galleries. Its collection span 5000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.

The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, Japan, China, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, whilst the Islamic collection, alongside the Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is amongst the largest in the world.

Alongside other neighbouring institutions, including the Natural History Museum and Science Museum, the V&A is located in what is termed London's "Albertopolis", an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance. Since 2001, the Museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation program^[3] which has seen a major overhaul of the departments including the introduction of newer galleries, gardens, shops and visitor facilities. Following in similar vein to other national UK museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001.

History

Foundation

The V&A has its origins in The Great Exhibition of 1851, with which Henry Cole the museum's first director was involved in planning; initially it was known as The Museum of Manufactures,^[4] first opening in May 1852 at Marlborough House, but by September had been transferred to Somerset House. At this stage the collections covered both applied art and science.^[5] Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection.^[6] By February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site^[7] and it was renamed as the South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive.^[8] The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the museum being the first in the world to provide such a facility.^[9] The official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857.^[10] In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting. This was to enable in the words of Cole "to ascertain practically what hours are most convenient to the working classes"^[11] — this was linked to the use of the collections of both applied art and science as educational resources to help boost productive industry.^[12] In these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of "High Art" at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum.^[13] This led to the transfer to the museum of The School of Design that had been founded in 1837 at Somerset House, after the transfer it was referred to as the Art School or Art Training School, later to become the Royal College of Art which finally achieved full independence in 1949. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the main museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road.^[14] In 1893 the "Science Museum" had effectively come into existence when a separate director was appointed.^[15]

The laying of the foundation stone to the left of the main entrance of the Aston Webb building, on 17 May 1899^[16] was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria and Albert Museum was made public.

The exhibition which the Museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, "A Grand Design," first toured in North America from 1997 (Baltimore Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), returning to London in 1999.^[17] To accompany and support the exhibition, the Museum published a book, Grand Design, which it has made available for reading online on its website.^[18]

1900–1950

The opening ceremony for the Aston Webb building by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra took place on 26 June 1909.^[19] In 1914 the construction commenced of the Science Museum signalling the final split of the science and art collections,^[20] since then the museum has maintained its role of one of the world's greatest decorative arts collections. At the outbreak of World War II most of the collection was packed away and sent either to an underground quarry in Wiltshire, Montacute House in Somerset, or to a disused tunnel near Aldwych tube station with larger items remaining in situ being sand bagged and bricked in.^[21] During the war some of the galleries were used between 1941 and 1944 as a school for children evacuated from Gibraltar.^[22] The South Court became a canteen, first for the Royal Air Force and later for Bomb Damage Repair Squads.^[23] Prior to the return of the collections after the war, the "Britain Can Make It" exhibition was held between September and November 1946,^[24] attracting nearly a million and a half visitors.^[25] This was organised and held under the auspices of the Council of Industrial Design which had been established by central government in 1944 "to promote by all practicable means the improvement of design in the products of British industry";^[26] the success of this exhibition led to the planning of the Festival of Britain. By 1948 most of the collections had been returned to the museum.

Since 1950

In July 1973 - as part of its outreach programme to young people - the V&A became the first museum in Britain to present a rock concert. The V&A presented a combined concert/lecture by British progressive folk-rock band Gryphon, who explored the lineage of mediaeval music and instrumentation and related how those contributed to contemporary music 500 years later. This innovative approach to bringing young people to museums was a hallmark of the Directorship of Roy Strong and was subsequently emulated by some other British museums.

In the 1980s Sir Roy Strong renamed the museum as 'The Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Museum of Art and Design'. Strong's successor Elizabeth Esteve-Coll oversaw a turbulent period for the institution in which the museum's curatorial departments were re-structured leading to public criticism from some staff. Esteve-Coll's attempts to make the V&A more accessible included a criticised marketing campaign emphasising the cafe over the collection.

In 2001 "Future Plan" was launched, which involves redesigning all the galleries and public facilities in the museum that have yet to be remodelled. This is to ensure that the exhibits are better displayed, more information is available and the Museum meets modern expectations for museum facilities; it should take about ten years to complete the work.

The museum also runs the Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green; and the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden and used to run Apsley House. The Theatre Museum is now closed, although it is planned to reopen in new galleries in the V&A.

Architecture of the Museum

The Victorian period

The Victorian areas have a complex history, with piecemeal additions by different architects. Founded in May 1852, it was not until 1857 that the museum moved to the present site. This area of London was known as Brompton but had been renamed South Kensington. The land was occupied by Brompton Park House, which was extended, most notably by the "Brompton Boilers",^[27] which were starkly utilitarian iron galleries with a temporary look; they were later dismantled and used to build the V&A Museum of Childhood. The first building to be erected that still forms part of the museum was the Sheepshanks Gallery in 1857 on the eastern side of the garden^[28]; its architect was Captain Francis Fowke. The next major expansions were designed by the same architect, these were the Turner and Vernon galleries built 1858-9 ^[29](Built to house the eponymous collections, which were later transferred to the Tate Gallery, now used as the picture galleries and tapestry gallery respectively), then the North ^[30]and South Courts ^[31], both of which opened by June 1862. They now form the galleries for temporary exhibitions and are directly behind the Sheepshanks Gallery. On the very northern edge of the site is situated the Secretariat Wing^[32], also built in 1862 this houses the offices and board room etc and is not open to the public.

An ambitious scheme of decoration was developed for these new areas: a series of mosaic figures depicting famous European artists of the Medieval and Renaissance period were produced^[33]. These have now been removed to other areas of the museum. Also started were a series of frescos by Lord Leighton: Industrial Arts as Applied to War 1878–1880 and Industrial Arts Applied to Peace, which was started but never finished^[34]. To the east of this were additional galleries, the decoration of which was the work of another designer Owen Jones, these were the Oriental Courts (covering India, China and Japan) completed in 1863, none of this decoration survives,^[35] part of these galleries became the new galleries covering the 19th century, opened in December 2006. The last work by Fowke was the design for the range of buildings on the north and west sides of the garden, this includes the refreshment rooms, reinstated as the Museum Café in 2006, with the silver gallery above, (at the time the ceramics gallery), the top floor has a splendid lecture theatre although this is seldom open to the general public. The ceramic staircase in the northwest corner of this range of buildings was designed by F.W. Moody^[36]; all the architectural details are produced in moulded and coloured pottery. All the work on the north range was designed and built in 1864–1869. The style adopted for this part of the museum was Italian Renaissance, much use was made of terracotta, brick and mosaic, this north façade was intended as the main entrance to the museum with its bronze doors designed by James Gamble & Reuben Townroe having six panels depicting: Humphry Davy (chemistry); Isaac Newton (astronomy); James Watt (mechanics); Bramante (architecture); Michelangelo (sculpture); Titian (painting); thus representing the range of the museums collections^[37],Godfrey Sykes also designed the terracotta embellishments and the mosaic in the Pediment of the North Façade commemorating the Great Exhibition the profits from which helped to fund the museum, this is flanked by terracotta statue groups by Percival Ball^[38]. This building replaced Brompton Park House, which could then be demolished to make way for the south range.

The interiors of the three refreshment rooms were assigned to different designers. The Green Dining Room 1866–68 was the work of Philip Webb and William Morris^[39], displays Elizabethan influences, the lower part of the walls are panelled in wood with a band of paintings depicting fruit and the occasional figure, with moulded plaster foliage on the main part of the wall and a plaster frieze around the decorated ceiling and stained glass windows. The Centre Refreshment Room 1865–77 was designed in a Renaissance style by James Gamble^[40], the walls and even the Ionic columns are covered in decorative and moulded ceramic tile, the ceiling consists of elaborate designs on enamelled metal sheets and matching stained glass windows, the marble fireplace^[41] was designed and sculpted by Alfred Stevens and was removed from Dorchester House prior to that building's demolition in 1929. The Grill Room 1876–81 was designed by Sir Edward Poynter^[42], the lower part of the walls consist of blue and white tiles with various figures and foliage enclosed by wood panelling, above there are large tiled scenes with figures depicting the four seasons and the twelve months these were painted by ladies from the Art School then based in the museum, the windows are also stained glass, there is an elaborate cast iron grill still in place.

With the death of Fowke the next architect to work at the museum was Colonel (later Major General) Henry Scott (1822–83)^[43] also of the Royal Engineers. He designed to the north west of the garden the five-storey School for Naval Architects (also known as the science schools)^[44], now the Henry Cole Wing in 1867–72. Scott's assistant J.H. Wild designed the impressive staircase ^[45]that rises the full height of the building, made from Cadeby stone the steps are 7 feet in length, the balustrades and columns are Portland stone. It is now used to house the joint V&A and Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) architectural drawings library and the Sackler education centre to open in 2008. Continuing the style of the earlier buildings, various designers were responsible for the decoration, the terracotta embellishments were again the work of Godfrey Sykes, although Sgraffito was used to decorate the east side of the building designed by F.W. Moody^[46], a final embellishment were the wrought iron gates made as late as 1885 designed by Starkie Gardner^[47], these lead to a passage through the building. Scott also designed the two Cast Courts 1870–73^[48] to the southeast of the garden (the site of the 'Brompton Boilers'), these vast spaces have ceilings 70 feet in height to accommodate the plaster casts of parts of famous buildings, including Trajan's Column (in two separate pieces). The final part of the museum designed by Scott was the Art Library and what is now the sculpture gallery on the south side of the garden, built 1877–83^[49], the exterior mosaic panels in the parapet were designed by Reuben Townroe who also designed the plaster work in the library^[50], Sir John Taylor designed the book shelves and cases^[51], also this was the first part of the museum to have electric lighting^[52]. This completed the northern half of the site but left the museum without a proper façade.

The Edwardian period

The main façade, built from red brick and Portland stone, stretches 720 feet along Cromwell Gardens and was designed by Aston Webb after winning a competition in 1891 to extend the museum. Construction took place between 1899 to 1909.^[53] Stylistically it is a strange hybrid, although much of the detail belongs to the Renaissance there are medieval influences at work. The main entrance consisting of a series of shallow arches supported by slender columns and niches with twin doors separated by pier is Romanesque in form but Classical in detail. Likewise the tower above the main entrance has an open work crown surmounted by a statue of fame^[54], a feature of late Gothic architecture and a feature common in Scotland, but the detail is Classical. The main windows to the galleries are also mullioned and transomed, again a Gothic feature, the top row of windows are interspersed with statues of many of the British artists whose work is displayed in the museum. Prince Albert appears within the main arch above the twin entrances, Queen Victoria above the frame around the arches and entrance. These façades surround four levels of galleries. Other areas designed by Webb include the Entrance Hall and Rotunda, the East and West Halls, the areas occupied by the shop and Asian Galleries as well as the Costume Gallery. The interior makes much use of marble in the entrance hall and flanking staircases, although the galleries as originally designed were white with restrained classical detail and mouldings, very much in contrast to the elaborate decoration of the Victorian galleries, although much of this decoration was removed in the early twentieth century.^[55]

The post-war period

The Museum survived the Second World War with only minor bomb damage. The worst loss was the Victorian stained glass on the Ceramics Staircase which was blown in when bombs fell near by; pock marks still visible on the façade of the museum were caused by shrapnel from the bombs. In the immediate post-war years there was little money available for other than essential repairs. The 1950s and early 1960s saw little in the way of building work, the first major work was the creation of new storage space for books in the Art Library in 1966 and 1967. This involved flooring over Aston Webb's main hall to form the book stacks^[56], with a new medieval gallery on the ground floor (now the shop, opened in 2006). Then the lower ground floor galleries in the south west part of the museum were redesigned, opening in 1978 to form the new galleries covering Continental art 1600–1800 (late Renaissance, Baroque through Rococo and neo-Classical)^[57]. In 1974 the museum had acquired what is now the Henry Cole wing from the Royal College of Science^[58]. In order to adapt the building as galleries, all the Victorian interiors except for the staircase were recast during the remodelling. To link this to the rest of the museum, a new entrance building was constructed on the site of the former boiler house, the intended site of the Spiral, between 1978 and 1982^[59]. This building is of concrete and very functional, the only embellishment being the iron gates by Christopher Hay and Douglas Coyne of the Royal College of Art^[60]. These are set in the columned screen wall designed by Aston Webb that forms the façade.

Recent years

A few galleries were redesigned in the 1990s including: Indian, Japanese, Chinese, iron work, the main glass and the main silverware gallery, although this gallery was further enhanced in 2002 when some of the Victorian decoration was recreated. This included two of the ten columns having their ceramic decoration replaced and the elaborate painted designs restored on the ceiling. As part of the 2006 renovation the mosaic floors in the sculpture gallery were restored — most of the Victorian floors were covered in linoleum after the Second World War. After the success of the British Galleries, opened in 2001, it was decided to embark on a major redesign of all the galleries in the museum; this is known as 'Future Plan'. The plan is expected to take about ten years and was started in 2002. To date several galleries have been redesigned, notably, in 2002: the main Silver Gallery, Contemporary; in 2003: Photography, the main entrance, The Painting Galleries; in 2004: the tunnel to the subway leading to South Kensington tube station, New signage through out the museum, architecture, V&A and RIBA reading rooms and stores, metalware, Members' Room, contemporary glass, the Gilbert Bayes sculpture gallery; in 2005: portrait miniatures, prints and drawings, displays in Room 117, the garden, sacred silver and stained glass; in 2006: Central Hall Shop, Islamic Middle East, the new café, sculpture galleries. Several designers and architects have been involved in this work. Eva Jiricna designed the enhancements to the main entrance and rotunda, the new shop, the tunnel and the sculpture galleries. Gareth Hoskins was responsible for contemporary and architecture, Softroom, Islamic Middle East and the Members' Room, McInnes Usher McKnight Architects are designing the new Medieval and Renaissance galleries due to open in 2009.^[61]

Recently, controversy surrounded the museum's proposed building of an £80 million extension called The Spiral, designed by Daniel Libeskind, which was criticised as out of keeping with the architecture of the original buildings. The Spiral's design was described by some as looking like jumbled cardboard boxes. In September 2004, the museum's board of trustees voted to abandon the design after failing to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.^[62]

The garden

The central garden was redesigned by Kim Wilkie and opened as the John Madejski Garden, on 5 July 2005. The design is a subtle blend of the traditional and modern, the layout is formal; there is an elliptical water feature lined in stone with steps around the edge which may be drained to use the area for receptions, gatherings or exhibition purposes. This is in front of the bronze doors leading to the refreshment rooms, a central path flanked by lawns leads to the sculpture gallery; the north, east and west sides have herbaceous borders along the museum walls with paths in front which continues along the south façade; in the two corners by the north façade there is planted an American Sweetgum tree; the southern, eastern and western edges of the lawns have glass planters which contain orange and lemon trees in summer, these are replaced by bay trees in winter. At night both the planters and water feature may be illuminated, and the surrounding façades lit to reveal details normally in shadow, especially noticeable are the mosaics in the loggia of the north façade. In summer a café is set up in the south west corner. The garden is also used for temporary exhibits of sculpture, for example a sculpture by Jeff Koons was shown in 2006.

Departments

Education

The education department^[63] has wide-ranging responsibilities. It provides information for the casual visitor as well as for school groups, including integrating learning in the museum with the National Curriculum; it provides research facilities for students at degree level and beyond, with information and access to the collections. It also oversees the content of the Museum's web site in addition to publishing books and papers on the collections, research and other aspects of the Museum.

Several areas of the collection have dedicated study rooms, these allow access to items in the collection that are not currently on display, but in some cases require an appointment to be made^[64].

The new Sackler education suite, occupying the two lower floors of the Henry Cole Wing is due to open in 2008. This will include lecture rooms and areas for use by schools, which will be available during school holidays for use by families, and will enable direct handling of items from the collection.

Research and Conservation

Research^[65] is a very important area of the Museum's work, and includes: identification and interpretation of individual objects; other studies contribute to systematic research, this develops the public understanding of the art and artefacts of many of the great cultures of the world; visitor research and evaluation to discover the needs of visitors and their experiences of the Museum. Since 1990 the Museum has published research reports^[66] these focus on all areas of the collections.

Conservation^[67] is responsible for the long-term preservation of the collections, and covers all the collections held by the V&A and the Museum of Childhood. The conservators specialise in particular areas of conservation. Areas covered by conservator's work include 'preventive' conservation this includes: performing surveys, assessments and providing advice on the handling of items, correct packaging, mounting and handling procedures during movement and display to reduce risk of damaging objects. Activities include controlling the Museum environment (for example, temperature and light) and preventing pests (primarily insects) from damaging artefacts. The other major category is 'interventive' conservation, this includes: cleaning and reintegration to strengthen fragile objects, reveal original surface decoration, and restore shape. Interventive treatment makes an object more stable, but also more attractive and comprehensible to the viewer. It is usually undertaken on items that are to go on public display.

Collections

The Victoria & Albert Museum is split into four Collections departments, Asia; Furniture, textiles and Fashion; Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass and Word & Image. The museum curators care for the objects in the collection and provide access to objects that are not currently on display to the public and scholars.

The collection departments are further divided into sixteen display areas, whose combined collection numbers over 6.5 million objects, not all items are displayed or stored at the V&A. There is a repository, in Blythe Road, West Kensington, as well as annex institutions managed by the V&A ^[68], also the Museum lends exhibits to other institutions. The following lists each of the collections on display and the number of objects within the collection.

Architecture (annex of the RIBA) Asia British Galleries (cross department display) Ceramics Childhood (annex of the V&A) Contemporary (cross department function) Fashion & Jewellery Furniture Glass Metalwork Paintings & Drawings Periods and styles (cross department function) Photography Prints & Books Sculpture Textiles Theatre Museum (consumed annex of the V&A)

2,050,000 160,000 ... 74,000 20,000 ... 28,000 14,000 6,000 31,000 202,500 ... 500,000 1,500,000 17,500 38,000 1,905,000

The museum has 145 galleries, but given the vast extent of the collections only a small percentage is ever on display. Many acquisitions have been made possible only with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund.

Architecture

In 2004, the V&A alongside RIBA opened the first permanent gallery in the UK^[69] covering the history of architecture with displays using models, photographs, elements from buildings and original drawings. With the opening of the new gallery, the RIBA Architectural Drawings Library has been transferred to the museum, joining the already extensive collection held by the V&A. With over 600,000 drawings, over 750,000 papers and paraphernalia, and over 700,000 photographs from around the world, together they form the world's most comprehensive architectural resource.

Not only are all the major British architects of the last four hundred years represented, but many European (especially Italian) and American architects' drawings are held in the collection. The holdings of drawings by Palladio are the largest in the world,^[70] other Europeans well represented are Jaques Gentilhatre^[71] and Antonio Visentini^[72]. British architects whose drawings, and in some cases models of their buildings, in the collection, include: Inigo Jones^[73] Sir Christopher Wren,Sir John Vanbrugh, Nicholas Hawksmoor, William Kent, James Gibbs, Robert Adam,^[74] Sir William Chambers,^[75] James Wyatt, Henry Holland, John Nash, Sir John Soane,^[76] Sir Charles Barry, Charles Robert Cockerell, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin,^[77] Sir George Gilbert Scott, John Loughborough Pearson, George Edmund Street, Richard Norman Shaw, Alfred Waterhouse, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Charles Rennie MacKintosh, Charles Holden, Lord Richard Rogers, Lord Norman Foster, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw and Zaha Hadid.

As well as period rooms, the collection includes parts of buildings, for example the two top stories of the facade of Sir Paul Pindar's house^{[78] [79]}dated c1600 from Bishopsgate with elaborately carved wood work and leaded windows, a rare survivor of the Great Fire of London, there is a brick portal from a London house of the English Restoration period and a fireplace from the gallery of Northumberland house. European examples include a dormer window dated 1523–35 from the chateau of Montal. There are several examples from Italian Renaissance buildings including, portals, fireplaces, balconies and a stone buffet that used to have a built in fountain. The main architecture gallery has a series of pillars from various buildings and different periods, for example a column from the Alhambra. Examples covering Asia are in those galleries concerned with those countries, as well as models and photographs in the main architecture gallery.

Asia

The V&As collection of Art from Asia numbers more than 160,000 objects, one of the greatest in existence. It has one of the world's most comprehensive and important collections of Chinese art whilst the collection of South Asian Art is the most important in the West. The museums coverage includes items from South and South East Asia, Himalayan Kingdoms, China, the Far East and the Islamic world.

The V&A holds over 19,000 items from the Islamic World, ranging from the early Islamic period (the 7th century) to the early 20th century. The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, opened in 2006, houses a representative display of 400 objects with the highlight being the Ardabil Carpet, the centrepiece of the gallery. The displays in this gallery cover objects from Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Afghanistan. A masterpiece of Islamic art is a 10th-century ewer carved from a single block of rock crystal. Many examples of Qur'āns with exquisite calligraphy dating from various periods are on display. A 15th-century Minbar from a Cairo mosque with ivory forming complex geometrical patterns inlaid in wood is one of the larger objects on display. Extensive examples of ceramics especially Iznik pottery, glasswork including 14th century lamps from mosques and metalwork are on display. The collection of Middle Eastern and Persian rugs and carpets is amongst the finest in the world, many were part of the Salting Bequest of 1909. Examples of tile work from various buildings including a fireplace dated 1731 from Istanbul made of intricately decorated blue and white tiles and turquoise tiles from the exterior of buildings from Samarkand are also displayed.

The Museum's collections of South and South-East Asian art are the most comprehensive and important in the West comprising nearly 60,000 objects, including about 10,000 textiles and 6000 paintings^[1], the range of the collection is immense. The Nehru gallery of Indian art, opened in 1991, contains art from about 500 BC to the 19th century. There is an extensive collection of sculpture, mainly of a religious nature, Hindu, Buddhist and Jain. The gallery is richly endowed with art of the Mughal Empire, including fine portraits of the emperors and other paintings and drawings, jade wine cups and gold spoons inset with emeralds, diamonds and rubies, also from this period are parts of buildings such as a jaali and pillars^[2]. India was a large producer of textiles, from dyed cotton chintz, muslin to rich embroidery work using gold and silver thread, coloured sequins and beads is displayed, as are carpets from Agra and Lahore. Examples of clothing are also displayed. One of the more unusual items on display in the Indian Gallery is 'Tipu's Tiger', an automaton and mechanical organ made in Mysore around 1795. It represents a tiger mauling a soldier or officer of the British East India Company. It is named after the ruler of Mysore who commissioned it, Tipu Sultan. In 1879–80 the collections of the British East India Company's India Museum were given to the V&A and the British Museum.

The Far Eastern collections include more than 70,000 works of art^[3] from the countries of East Asia: China, Japan and Korea. The T.T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese art opened in 1991, displaying a representative collection of the V&As approximately 16,000 objects^[4] from China, dating from the 4th millennium BC to the present day. Though the majority of art works on display date from the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, there are equisite examples of objects dating from the Tang Dynasty and earlier periods. Notably, a metre high bronze head of Buddha dated to the c750 AD and one of the oldest items a 2,000 year old jade horse head from a burial, other sculptures include life size tomb guardians. Classic examples of Chinese manufacturing are displayed which include lacquer, silk, porcelain, jade and cloisonné enamel. Two large ancestor portraits of a husband and wife painted in watercolour on silk date from the 18th century. There is a unique lacquer table, made in the imperial workshops during the reign of Emperor Xuande. Examples of clothing are also displayed. One of the largest objects is a mid 17th century bed. The work of contemporary Chinese designers is also displayed.

The Toshiba gallery of Japanese art opened in December 1986. The majority of exhibits date from 1550 to 1900, but one of the oldest pieces displayed is the 13th-century sculpture of Amida Nyorai. Examples of classic Japanese armour from the mid 19th century, steel sword blades (Katana), Inro, lacquerware including the Mazarin Chest^[5] dated c1640 is one of the finest surviving pieces from Kyoto, porcelain including Imari, Netsuke, woodblock prints including the work of Ando Hiroshige, graphic works include printed books, as well as a few paintings, scrolls and screens, textiles and dress including kimonos are some of the objects on display. One of the finest objects displayed is Suzuki Chokichi's bronze incense burner (koro) dated 1875, standing at over 2.25 metres high and 1.25 metres in diameter it is also one of the largest examples made.

The smaller galleries cover Korea, the Himalayan kingdoms and South East Asia. Korean displays include green-glazed ceramics, silk embroideries from officials' robes and gleaming boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl made between 500 AD and 2000. Himalayan items include important early Nepalese bronze sculptures, repoussé work and embroidery. Tibetan art from the 14th to the 19th century is represented by notable 14th- and 15th-century religious images in wood and bronze, scroll paintings and ritual objects. Art from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in gold, silver, bronze, stone, terracotta and ivory represents these rich and complex cultures, the displays span the 6th to 19th centuries. Refined Hindu and Buddhist sculptures reflect the influence of India; items on show include betel-nut cutters, ivory combs and bronze palanquin hooks.

Museums with major collections of Asian Art

Forbidden City *, Beijing, China 1,000,000 objects [1] National Palace Museum *, Taipei, Taiwan 700,000 objects [1] National Museum of China *¹, Beijing, China 620,000 objects [2] Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK 160,000 objects [3] National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea 150,000 objects [4] Shanghai Museum *, China 120,000 objects [5] National Museum ², Japan 120,000 objects [6] British Library ³, London, UK 90,000 objects [7] [8] British Museum, London, UK 75,000 objects [9] [10] The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 60,000 objects [11]] Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France 58,000 objects [12] Musee Guimet, Paris, France ~50,000 objects [13] Museum of Fine Arts **, Boston, USA ~40,000 objects [14] Horniman Museum, London, UK 32,000 objects [15] Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, Germany 20,000 objects [16] Art Institute of Chicago ***, USA 35,000 objects [17] Freer Gallery of Art / Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., USA 18,200 objects [18] Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA 17,000 objects [19] Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA 10,450 objects [20] Please Note - * : These three museum's specialise in only Chinese items, the collections are not comprehensive for all Asia - *¹ National Museum of China: Includes contemporary collections, science & technology and decorative arts, however the vast majority derives from the Imperial collection, divided between Beijing and the National Palace Museum, Taipei - ² National Museum: This includes the combined holdings of the three museums that make up the National Museum, i.e. Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum - ³ British Library: No sculptures or architecural elements, the world's largest collection of ancient manuscripts from Asia, including the Stein Collection - Misleading Collection: ² Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Asian collection includes books, prints, postcards and modern paraphernalia, website indicates a massive collection, which is misleading - Misleading Collection: ³ Art Institute of Chicago: The Near & Middle East objects are included within the scope of the collection, overinflates size. n.b. it should be noted that this list is controversial, in so far as it contains only qualitative analysis of museum holdings. These may or may not reflect actual artistic quality of collections in question.

Museums with major collections of Islamic Art

Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, Egypt 103,000 objects [21] Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul, Turkey 40,000 objects [22] British Museum, London, UK 40,000 objects [23] Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait City, Kuwait 30,000 objects [24] Khalili Collection¹ 20,000 objects [25] Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK 19,000 objects [26] The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 12,000 objects [27] Musée du Louvre², Paris, USA 10,000 objects [2] Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece 8,000 objects [28] Please Note: ¹ Khalili Collection; Largest Private Collection - ² Musée du Louvre; 2005 Annual Report - Tableau récapitulatif de l’état d'avancement de l'informatisation des collections fin 2005, pg 185. n.b. it should be noted that this list is controversial, in so far as it contains only qualitative analysis of museum holdings. These may or may not reflect actual artistic quality of collections in question.

British Galleries

These fifteen galleries — which opened in November 2001 — contain around 4000 items. The displays in these galleries are based around three major themes: 'Style', 'Who Led Taste' and 'What Was New'. The period covered is 1500 to 1900, the galleries fall into three major subdivisions; Tudor and Stuart Britain 1500–1714, This covers the Renaissance, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration and Baroque styles; Georgian Britain 1714–1837, this covers Palladianism, Rococo, Chinoiserie, Neoclassicism, the Regency, as well as continuing classical influences includes Chinese, Indian and Egyptian styles, also the Gothic Revival; Victorian Britain 1837–1901, this covers the later more scholarly phase of the Gothic Revival, French influences, Classical and Renaissance revivals, Aestheticism, Japanese style, continuing influence from China, Indian and the Islamic world, the Arts and Crafts movement and the Scottish School.

Not just the work of British artists and craftspeople is on display, but work produced by European artists that was purchased or commissioned by British patrons. Also imports from Asia, including porcelain, cloth and wallpaper. Designers and artists whose work is on display in the galleries include Gian Lorenzo Bernini,^[6] Grinling Gibbons,^[7] Daniel Marot, Louis Laguerre, Antonio Verrio, Sir James Thornhill, William Kent, Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam, Canaletto, Josiah Wedgwood,^[8] Matthew Boulton,^[9] Eleanor Coade,^[10] Canova,^[11] John Constable, Thomas Chippendale, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin,^[12] William Morris,^[13] William Burges^[14], Charles Robert Ashbee, Christopher Dresser,^[15] James McNeill Whistler and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Patrons who have influenced taste are also represented by works of art from their collections, these include: Horace Walpole^[16] (a major influence on the Gothic Revival), William Thomas Beckford^[17] and Thomas Hope.^[18]

Over the four centuries covered, the people influencing style are seen to change over time, in the early sixteenth century the Church prior to the Reformation and the British Monarchy dominated taste, but as time passed first the aristocracy, then also the middle class begin to have a greater and greater influence on taste. This mirrors rising national wealth and power, as British trade spread around the globe followed by the founding and expansion of the British Empire.

There are five complete rooms from demolished buildings displayed in the galleries, these are: The parlour from the Old Palace Bromley-by-Bow dated 1606 with carved Renaissance-style oak panelling, overmantel and richly decorated plaster ceiling: the parlour from 2 Henrietta Street London dated 1727–28 designed by James Gibbs with an elaborate ceiling with in set paintings and carved fireplace; the