|
Being the world's foremost museum of decorative arts, The Victoria and Albert Museum was originally founded in 1842 It later became home to the India Museum which had been established in 1799 by the East India Company The collection of the Asian Department includes material from the Punjab dating from the 16th to the 19th Centuries From paintings, textiles, rare photographs, arms and armour to the spectacular Golden Throne of Ranjit Singh, the V&A reflects the wealth of Sikh heritage and culture that resides in Britain today
The Victoria and Albert is the greatest decorative-arts museum in the world It's also one of the liveliest and most imaginative museums in London - where else would you find the quintessential "little black dress" in the permanent collection?
The medieval holdings include such treasures as the early-English Gloucester Candlestick; the Byzantine Veroli Casket, with its ivory panels based on Greek plays; and the Syon Cope, a unique embroidery made in England in the early 14th century An area devoted to Islamic art houses the Ardabil Carpet from 16th-century Persia
The V&A boasts the largest collection of Renaissance sculpture outside Italy
A highlight of the 16th-century collection is the marble group Neptune with Triton, by Bernini The cartoons by Raphael, which were conceived as designs for tapestries for the Sistine Chapel, are owned by the Queen and are on display here A most unusual, huge, and impressive exhibit is the Cast Courts, life-size plaster models of ancient and medieval statuary and architecture
The museum has the greatest collection of Indian art outside India, plus Chinese and Japanese galleries In complete contrast are suites of English furniture, metalwork, and ceramics, and a superb collection of portrait miniatures, including the one Hans Holbein the Younger made of Anne of Cleves for the benefit of Henry VIII, who was again casting around for a suitable wife The Dress Collection includes a collection of corsets through the ages that's sure to make you wince There's also a remarkable collection of musical instruments
V&A has opened 15 modern galleries -- the British Galleries -- telling the story of British design from 1500 to 1900 No other museum in the world houses such a diverse collection of British design and decorative art From Chippendale to Morris, all of the top British designers are featured in some 3,000 exhibits, ranging from the 16-foot-high (5m) Melville Bed (1697) with its luxurious wild-silk damask and red-velvet hangings, to 19th-century classics such as furniture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh One of the most prized possessions is the "Great Bed of Ware," mentioned in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Also on exhibit is the wedding suite of James II And don't miss the V&A's most bizarre gallery, Fakes and Forgeries The impostors here are amazingly authentic -- in fact, we'd judge some of them as better than the old masters themselves The interactive displays hold special interest Learning about heraldry is far more interesting when you're designing your own coat of
Address: South Kensington
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 2000
|
Castle Ashby
Stonehenge Great Trilithons 
Island Of Lundy
Big Ben
Madame Tussauds
St Paul's Cathedral
The Tower of London
The Victoria & Albert Museum
The Science Museum
London Eye
National Gallery
British Museum
Tate Modern
Pembrokeshire, South Wales
Rock & Pop Music Club in London