Victoria & Albert Museum

Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of theprints. In 2001 the restored British Galleries reopened to
Museum on 17th May 1899. The Victoria & Albert hasthe public. These cover British art and design from
a collection of more than 4 million objects. The Victoria1500 - 1900 and include James II's wedding suit and the
& Albert Museum in London is the world's largestGreat Bed of Ware. The Victoria & Albert, which held
museum of the decorative arts and has 146 galleries,its first photographic exhibition in 1858, is also the home
including national collections of sculpture, furniture,of the National Collection of Art of Photography. The
fashion and photographs. It also houses the NationalCanon Photography Gallery has regularly changing
Art Library. The Victoria & Albert also manage thedisplays.
Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, the WellingtonThe fifteen galleries of the Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum at Apsley House and the Theatre Museum intell the story of British design from the Tudor period to
Covent Garden.the Victorian era and display the Victoria & Albert's
The Victoria & Albert is the world's greatest museumunrivalled collection of historic British furniture, textiles,
of art and design. The Museum is renowned for thedress, ceramics, glass, jewellery, silver, prints, paintings
immense diversity of its collections, which embraceand sculpture. Every major name in the history of
furniture, fashion, textiles, paintings, silver, glass,British design is represented, including Grinling Gibbons,
ceramics, jewellery, books, prints and photographs.Robert Adam, William Morris and Charles Rennie
Housed in magnificent Victorian buildings, theseMackintosh as well as workshops and manufacturers
collections illustrate the artistic life of many differentsuch as the Mortlake tapestry works, Spitalfields silks
cultures, from European to South East Asian,weaving workshops, Wedgwood, Doulton and Liberty.
American to Islamic, over hundreds of generations.The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has started
The museum has been housed in Aston Webb's grandwork on a new jewellery gallery that is planned to
building since 1909. The building has a impressiveopen in 2008. Jewels from 2000 sc to the present,
facade and main entrance. As the museum grew newdrawn from a pool of five thousand, will include an
buildings were erected when needed. Many of theseancient Egyptian hippopotamus, Elizabethan pendants,
buildings were intended to be semi-permanentMarie Antoinette's bracelet clasps, jewels owned by
exhibition halls but all have survived and represent oneNapoleon and Catherine the Great, as well as this
of the finest groups of Victorian buildings in the country.nineteenth-century English bodice ornament, a diamond
The Victoria & Albert has around four million exhibitsbouquet of roses, a carnation, a chrysanthemum and a
from all periods and areas of the world. The 145 offuchsia, set on springs so they tremble as the wearer
galleries cover ten acres and are spread over fourmoves.
floors.The transformation of the British Galleries is the
The Art and Design galleries are arranged by themesVictoria & Albert's largest project for over half a
and by place and date, for example the Materials &century and with over 3000 exhibits on display in
Techniques galleries are arranged by the type ofmagnificent new surroundings, the result is a truly
material. The six-storey Henry Cole Wing holds theexceptional experience not to be missed.
Victoria & Albert's collection of paintings, drawings and