Portraits, Henry VIII, Elizabeth, Jewellery and Tsars – It’s what great exhibitions are made of! Or so I thought. My team and I were so excited about going we even got tickets for the first day!
Whether or not Tudors and Tsars are your cup of tea, the V&A are renowned for putting on spectacular exhibitions which are always well worth the money (case in point, last Autumns ‘Hollywood Costumes’ which was fantastic enough for me to fork out the hefty £25 for the accompanying book).
Walk around any of London’s great museums and you will find treasures galore, so I expected this to be dripping in luxury goods, with stories to boot. Sadly to say we were all disappointed. It was crowded, dark, light on the ‘stories’ and heavy on the queues. What felt like the starter turned out to be the main course, and after we turned the second corner we found ourselves abruptly at the Gift Shop. In all honestly I don’t feel like I came away having learnt a great deal.
However, what I did learn I would like to share with you:
- Grape earrings will always be in fashion.
- The ‘How to Paint a Miniature’ video was actually very interesting, and it’s a crying shame we don’t carry around portraits of our loved ones on our doublets and bodices anymore.
- The Tsars and Tudors gave each other very similar gifts, similar enough to cause a little suspicion… I almost image Lizzy and Ivan re-wrapping last years gifts (obviously this didn’t really happen…Lizzy would never wrap her own presents!).
Joking aside there were some beautiful pieces on display, so to be fair here are some of my personal favourites:
The fashion catalogue of the day. Armour Design: The Almain Armourer’s Album; The Jacob Album; ‘Sr Henry Lee Mr of Tharmorie’ 1557-1587 (made). Property of the V&A
Cutting an impressive figure as you walk in, The Dacre Ram: They represent one of the most powerful families in Northern England and are a unique survivors of free standing, large-scale wooden heraldic sculpture from the English Renaissance. 1507-1525 (made). Property of the V&A
Field armour probably belonging to Lord North. 1565 (made). Property of the V&A
After we left the exhibition, and obligatory gift shop, we went upstairs to the Jewellery Room. This room was renovated a few years back and I have been a number of times. Despite it being nothing new it still manages to take my breath away, and it really is a gem in the Museum. Visiting an exhibition like this makes you a little irritated that you just had to pay for a less superior one downstairs.
Treasures of the Royal Courts: Average
Jewellery Room: Splendid
V&A Overall: Well you should know, haven’t you visited yet? You Haven’t? Go immediately! Look out for Trajan’s Column, the ‘feature in the Foyer’ and the best bleeding gift shop I’ve ever been in!
©2013