After the gorgeous weekend in Manchester and the fine days shopping on the Kensington High Street and at Harrod’s, I’m somewhat bummed when the weather turns chilly and drizzly again. But this is London, where there are many, many museums, most of which are free. So I decide to go off and check out the Victoria & Albert Museum I’ve heard/read so much about.
I love this place. My original plan was to stay a couple of hours and then head home and catch up with my blog writing, but the V&A held me for nearly 5 solid hours. I took 70 photos and had a day filled with education and beauty.
I’ll warn you now that the lighting in this museum was dreadful. Many of the exhibits are kept under extremely low light, to protect the items, I imagine. To make up for it, though, most items were standing out where you could actually put your nose right on them if that’s what you needed to do to see them. A few signs asking you not to touch were sprinkled here and there, and some things were under glass, but many, many items weren’t. Still, the photos all have a sepia tone and many are not up to my usual standards, but you’ll get an idea of what I was looking at.
Sculpture
When you first enter the museum, you’re in a massive, massive long hallway/room filled with sculpture. Lifesize busts and statues, entire scenes, wall sconces, etc. I don’t think my photos will be able to give you the sense of scale of the room, but take my word for it, it’s something like 2 city blocks worth of statuary.
Wall Decorations Near One End of the Sculpture Hall
I’m very much into mythology, especially the Greco-Roman mythology on which Western Astrology is based, so I took pictures of sculpture relating to that topic.
Neptune (I think)
Diana, the Huntress (minus her bow)
The Abduction of Persephone by Hades
Prometheus Chained to a Rock as Punishment for Giving Men the Gift of Fire
Thetis Dipping Achilles Into the River Styx for Protection
There were also some statues of Saxon gods that I know nothing about. This one is Sunna, god of the Sun, for whom Sunday is named:
Sunna, Saxon God of the Sun
And this is Thuner, similar to Thor, for whom Thursday is named.
Thuner, Saxon God of Thunder
Fashion Room
Okay, I know, enough sculpture. Let’s move on to the Fashion Room, which had lots of interesting exhibits. But again, they were quite dimly lit, and they were kind of higgledy-piggledy as far as time periods go. Here are just a few interesting pieces:
Very Cute Women’s Shoes from the 1700’s
Workaday Dress from around George Washington’s Time (I think), mid-1700’s
Fancy Dress from around the mid- to late-1700’s
Leaving the Fashion Room I came to a rotunda with a gorgeous ceiling that held a Chihuly glass sculpture. I found this absolutely incongruous—the stately old building with the stunningly modern glass hanging from it. I like them both, but maybe they just don’t go together that well, or at least not for me. I’m too much of a traditionalist, I guess.
Chihuly Glass Sculpture Hanging From V&A Museum Ceiling
{sorry about the orientation}
Wood and Furniture
Upstairs the Wood and Furniture Rooms were laid out according to time period and styles. I can’t show you all the wonderful, incredible workmanship I saw, but here are some of my favorites.
Wall Sized Bookcases
Star Studded Round Table
This next piece is a washstand built by William Burgess in 1880, long before indoor plumbing was invented. The water is held in the upper cabinet, and one uses the lower tap to fill the basin in order to wash one’s hands. The upper tap is for rinsing. And then, ingeniously, one tips the entire marble basin to pour the dirty water into a bowl that sits behind the lower doors on the bottom shelf.
Amazing Washstand by Willimam Burgess
This is a lovely little table in the French style, I think from about the late 1600’s, but I’m not sure of the dates. This is all wood.
French Half Circle Table
Even the ceilings in the Wood and Furniture Rooms were stunning:
Gorgeous Wood Ceiling
After viewing all the furniture and wood stuff, I was hungry and tired, so I went downstairs to eat at the café. There were multiple, incredible rooms to eat in, as well as modern stools and counters. I really wanted to eat in one of the nice rooms, so I wandered around with my tray until I found an empty table. But it was for 6 people. I felt a bit guilty about using it, but decided I’d just let anyone else who needed a seat come join me. Turned out that a party of 5 women who’d come from the Lake country (the Midlands, I think) to see the quilting exhibition were happy to find a place they could all sit together. Some of them even chatted with me a bit, so that was nice.
Amazing Café Room at the V&A Museum
After lunch I still felt tired, and thought I might go home and come back another day to see some of the other rooms. But as I was walking back through that immense sculpture hallway, a woman came up to me and handed me a ticket to the Grace Kelley fashion exhibition for 3:00pm. The woman didn’t speak English, but apparently she’d bought the ticket (this exhibition has an entrance fee) and now wanted to leave. I thanked her for the ticket and checked my watch. It was nearing 2:00pm; I’d been here since 11:00, but I figure these things happen for a reason. So I headed upstairs to check out those rooms until the show opened. This building itself is worth the trip over here; look at this staircase!
V&A Staircase
There were many, many items, and the religious artifacts were the ones that called to me the most. Here are some items of Judaica that I’m sure my parents and Robin will enjoy seeing:
Torah Spindle Ornaments
Mezzuzahs, Seder Plates, and Other Items
Closeup of a Georgeous Seder Plate
In the Christian section I was more taken with the stained glass than the metal. I love stained glass.
Heraldic Crests With the Sun Shining Through
Grace Kelley Fashion
I made it downstairs just in time to see the Grace Kelley exhibition show. There was a movie about her, with old newsreel footage, etc. They had many of her dresses, coats, hats and handbags on display. She was a beautiful woman, and was known for her grace and elegance. I wasn’t all that taken with the clothing just looking at it on mannequins, but seeing her wearing them in the movie was a very different experience.
By the time I’d finished in the Grace Kelley part of the Fashion Room, I was definitely ready to go home. My “couple of hours” had turned into 5, and I was sated and happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment