COLLECTIONS
Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass
This department cares for the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collections of Western sculpture, metalwork, silver and jewellery, ceramics and glass. The Asian department holds similar material from the East.
Sculpture
The Brixen Alterpiece, Austria, Brixen, 1500-10. Museum No. 192-1866 |
The Sculpture collection contains over 17,000 objects, including plaster casts. It is the most comprehensive holding of post-classical European sculpture in the world. Since the collection was formed within an applied art museum, it is also much broader than those found in art galleries. The collection contains outstanding examples of large-scale figurative work, including seminal examples of Italian Renaissance and Baroque statuary and reliefs, but also extends to polychromed wood sculpture and small-scale boxwood statuettes, terracotta models, bronze statuettes and functional pieces, and ivory plaques for the adornment of book covers.
The collection has the status of a national collection. Classical sculpture is the responsibility of the British Museum, so the earliest pieces at the Victoria and Albert Museum are from the Late Antique period, the 4th century AD. Also, by formal agreement with the Tate, the Museum does not currently collect large-scale sculpture produced after about 1914. It does, however, retain an interest extending to the present day in certain types of small sculptural artefacts, such as ivories, bronzes and medals, which complement the historical collections and are not covered by the Tate.
Enquiries about sculpture: sculpture@vam.ac.uk
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Metalwork, Silver and Jewellery
Jan Van Nouhuys, pair of candlesticks, 1991. Museum no. M.20, 21-2000 |
The Metalwork, Silver and Jewellery collection contains 45,000 examples of decorative metalwork, ranging in date from the Bronze Age to the present day. It includes the national collection of English silver, newly displayed in the refurbished Silver galleries, an outstandingly comprehensive Jewellery gallery and collections of ironwork, Continental silver, arms and armour, enamels, brasswork, pewter and medieval metalwork of international importance.
Enquiries about metalwork, silver and jewellery: mwork@vam.ac.uk
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Ceramics and Glass
Cup and cover, Venice, 1400-1500. Museum no. 677-1884 |
The Ceramics and Glass collection contains about 80,000 objects, including ceramics and glass, stained glass, plastics and enamels on copper. These collections of Western ceramics and glass are the national collections, and the ceramics collection in particular has always been one of the cornerstones of the V&A.
The collection now spans the whole range, from ancient Egyptian artefacts to contemporary studio pottery and industrially designed ceramics.
Within the vast array of different kinds of ceramics, there are many individual collections that can easily be regarded as the best and most comprehensive in the world. Of particular importance are Spanish lustre wares from the late medieval and Renaissance periods, Italian maiolica, Dutch delftware, French faience and, above all, British pottery and porcelain.
Enquiries about ceramics and glass: ceramicsandglass@vam.ac.uk
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