Victoria and Albert Museum

V&A Museum

The Victoria and Albert museum (V&A) is a free museum in Kensington, surrounded by the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. Named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1852, the V&A is home to the words largest collection of art and design artifacts.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Background

The Building

The V&A building houses the vast collection of objects, while being a magnificent sight to see on its own. A quick chat with a security guard will let you know that the entire footprint covers 12 acres of land, with galleries on 6 floors and one underground. The total number of galleries in the museum is 145. At the center sits a courtyard and garden that features an outdoor cafe and a water pool. Gallery space is constantly being added or remodeled, with the most recent addition being completed onto the building in 2012, but a total of 4 current galleries are remodeled.

Swarm Study / III

This experimental art exhibit was created by Random International, an art studio that develops interesting and creative displays and exhibits across the world. Swarm Study / III hangs in the ceramics section of the museum and consists of several cubes of hanging brass cords and LEDs. As visitors ascend or descend the stairwell, balls of light will seemingly follow the visitors on their path.

The Collection

The museum houses the largest collection of art and design items in the world, but only displays about half of that in the physical space. However, the number that is displayed is quite significant at 2,280,000 items spread across the 145 galleries. This collection is broken up into categories by type of items, such as Ceramics, textiles, metals, jewelry, furniture, sculptures and many more. The items in the categories are then also placed by origin, with with locations such as Europe, North American, Asia and Africa. The museum's oldest items are up to 5,000 years old, while some parts of the collection are objects from as recent as 2017.

Ceramics

Victoria and albert Museum has the largest and most comprehensive ceramics and glass collection in the world, with over 80,000 objects from around the world. we can see ceramics from every continent. We can see scatter pieces around the museum but in the top floor there is a designated area just for ceramics. Most are in display on the top floor inside "visible storage". The ceramics fete back to 3000BC to present. The cases are arranged by place of origin. All the cases and shelves are numbered. You can use these numbers to find detailed information on the objects through 'Serach the Collectoons' on the computer terminals located throughout the galleries, or online.

Before 589

Ceramics were first made in China in about 5000 BC. Painted earthenware jars from north China were among the most sophisticated products made during the millennia that followed.
By the Han dynasty (206 BC- AD 220) China's ceramic industry had developed to a high level. Regional kilns produced funerary objects, architectural components and items for everyday use. They were wheel-thrown, hand-built or moulded, and then decorated with unfired pigments or lead glaze. High- fired stoneware vessels with ash glaze were also produced.
Some vessels, figures and architectural components were specifically made for burial purposes. They were assembled to create miniature universes resembling the real world.

Korea

400-1500

During the Three Kingdoms (57 BC-AD 676) and Unified Silla (676-935) periods, the majority of high-fired ceramics made in Korea were dark-bodied, unglazed funerary wares. Then, during the 9th century, Korean potters started making green-glazed wares, particularly at kilns near the south and west Coasts. Green-glazed wares from the first half of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) were often decorated with highly refined incised motifs. After 1150, black and white inlay, a uniquely Korean innovation, was used to create a rich variety of patterns. The use of inlaid slip continued into the succeeding Choson dynasty (1392-1910) in the form of so-called punch ong wares.

Jars

The exhibit displayed many jars and vases which were highly decorative. These jars and vases were considered to be an intricate part of Korean culture where they were used for decorative purposes, ritual purposes and traditional purposes.

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  This plain white "Moon Jar" is an example of finest ionic ceramic jar used to contain flowers. How it symbolizes the beauty of the natural world.

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  These are multi-colored modern sculptures which broke traditional Korean ceramic techniques used in the past.

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  This is a vase used for traditional purposes in a palace in the past.

Japan

1660-1870

The Japanese first made porcelain in 1600-10, following the discovery of porcelain stone in Arita in western Japan. Until the techniques of overglaze enamelling (see Case O to your right) were introduced in the 1640s, the majority of wares were decorated using underglaze cobalt blue (blue-and-white). The Arita porcelain industry received an important boost in the mid 17th century when there was a temporary collapse in Chinese porcelain exports and foreign merchants in Nagasaki turned to Japanese producers asan alternative source of supply. Blue-and-white porcelain continued to be made throughout the Edo (1615-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods, and is still produced in Arita today.

Middle East

700-1400

Pottery in the Middle East was primarily made for everyday purposes such as storing and serving liquids and foods. Unglazed wares were often decorated with moulded, incised or carved designs, while various methods were used to produce colourful glazed objects. In about 800, potters in Iraq invented several important new techniques, notably tin glazing, painting in cobalt blue, and overglaze decoration in lustre. These spread to Egypt, where potters produced a wide range of ceramic types during the 11th and 12th centuries. In Iran, potters achieved colourful results by using slips under a transparent glaze. Until about 1050, all Middle Eastern ceramics were made from earthenwares.

Syria and Egypt

1150-1650

Syria lay at the heart of international trade routes and its ceramics often reflected foreign influences. During the 12th and 13th centuries potters were inspired by imported Iranian wares. In the early 15th century, they began to copy the Chinese porcelain that was traded through Damascus. Many of the same styles were produced in Egypt, but in the 14th century there also emerged a distinctive type of earthenware decorated with slips. After the Ottoman conquest of 1516, Syrian potters absorbed the court style of Iznik ceramics. However, the painting was less refined and never included the relief red pigment so characteristic of lznik wares.

Portugal and México

1600-1725

Potters at Puebla de los Angeles in Mexico used Spanish tin-glaze technology to make blue-and-white earthenwares with 'Chinese' decoration. At Tonala, near Guadalajara, potters used local traditions of hand-building and hand-polishing to produce a distinctive red pottery for the Spanish and European markets. Portuguese traders were the first to import quantities of Chinese porcelain into Europe. Potters in Portugal then borrowed Chinese ornament and combined this with western imagery and heraldry on their high-quality earthenwares. Much of their production was exported to northern Europe, through a wide network of Jewish merchants of Portuguese origin.

Europe

1700-1910

Slipware is pottery covered or decorated with liquid clay 'slip'. Its production was widespread in 18th-century Europe. Normally local product, it displays a range of regional styles. In the Niederrhein region of Germany, many villages produced distinctive slipwares using a variety of techniques. at Rheurdt and Vluyn-vluynbusch made large dishes with vigorous incised decoration. In Switzerland, the Langnau region became an important centre, producing slipwares of unusual delicacy In Central Europe, potters in Transylvania, Bohemia and Moravia made highly decorative ceramics by trailing or painting pigments and slip onto a plain white slip- covered ground. Throughout Central Europe, regional traditions of slipware continued into the 19th and 20th centuries. Traditional forms and decoration persisted, but with increased communication new styles emerged to suit wider markets and tastes. A wide range of slip-decorated tablewares was made for household use. In some regions, the manufacture of wares as tourist souvenirs also became increasingly important. Potteries at Heimberg, in the Thun district of Switzerland, catered for a popular tourist market. They exhibited at Paris Exhibition of 1878, and their wares were exported widely.

St. George and The Dragon

This statue was made in Germany in 1480. It depicts St. George havingslayed a dragon while rescuing a princess. St. George was shown to bean example of chivalry because of this.

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Asian Exhibit

Islamic Art

The Victoria and Albert Museum contains over 4.5 million objects from different time periods. 19,000 of those are from the Islamic world. They range from the 7th century and span all the way to the early 20th century. The gallery that contains around 400 of these items at a time is called The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art and opened in 2006 with Ardabil Carpet being the centerpiece of the gallery. This is one of a pair of Persian rugs while the other is located in Los Angeles. The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art holds items from Afghanistan, Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Another of the most famous objects of this gallery is a 10th century rock crystal ewer. This is an amazing example of Fatimid art, an artifact from the Fatimid Caliphate. Along with these items, the gallery holds many different examples of calligraphy in Qur'āns of multiple time periods. One of the largest objects in this display is a minbar from a mosque in Cairo that dates back to the 15th century. There are also ceramics, rugs, glasswork, carpets, tile work, and even a fireplace on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Korean Exhibit

The Korean Exhibit mostly showed

Iron and Steel Exhibit

The Victoria and Albert Museum has one of the largest collections of decorative iron and steel from the 12th Century to present day. Most of it comes from Continental Europe and Britain and there is a large variety. There is everything from gates, locks, and keys, to candlesticks, earrings and necklaces. Iron is one of the most useful and abundant metals but it is not easy to extract or mold. However because of Iron's characteristics, it allows more difficult forms to be created. Iron is made by smelting, heated with a mixture of ore and charcoal, to a staggering temperature of 12000 degrees C. Once in a while the mixture would be hammered to condense it, and eliminate any impurities. There have been many different methods of smelting between 3500 BC to AD 1700. However in 1713 a cheaper way of producing iron came about, Abraham Darby smelted ore using coke, which is derived from coal. Wrought Iron and cast Iron are the two most commonly used types of Iron. The difference between the two is that wrought iron is shaped by a blacksmith, and therefore no two pieces are the same. Cast iron is produced in a boundary, which allows for the mass production of an item, the iron is melted to liquid form and placed in a mold. This process makes it brittle but still strong, so it is ideal for use in bracelets or railing. Iron is used when a strong material is needed. And because of its decorative qualities, many architects have been attracted to it.

Stained Glass Exhibit

Natalie

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