A year ago, I was appointed Assistant Curator of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection to support the rest of the ‘Gilbert team’ which is composed of Dr Heike Zech, curator of the collection, and Dr Tessa Murdoch, Deputy Keeper. Although I already knew about the Gilbert Collection, it has been a steep learning curve to fully understand the background and impact of this exceptional group of objects on long-term loan at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
I am obviously biased, but I find working on the Gilbert Collection incredibly exciting and rewarding. As well as doing research and taking care of the objects, we also need to ensure the collection is as widely accessible to the public as possible. This encompasses temporary displays or exhibitions, loans to other institutions, gallery tours, conferences, study days, handling sessions and more – including this blog! For more information, check the V&A website.
Here are two things that struck me when I started my job, which shape the way I approach the collection, and which I hope will arouse your curiosity too:
- The extraordinary drive and passion which led Rosalinde and Arthur to assemble, in only 40 years, one of the 20th century’s most prestigious collections of decorative arts, and later to encourage them to share it with the world through the V&A. This will be an underlying theme of our upcoming blog posts.
The Gilberts around 1975, posing in front of objects from their collection at their house, © The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the V&A, London - The number and quality of the pieces they carefully acquired: 1057 according to our collections management database, including silver and gold, gold boxes, enamel portrait miniatures and mosaics.
One of my favourite pieces: a gold cup recovered from a shipwreck, probably made in Peru, 1670-1730 © The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the V&A, London Taking care of the objects can glamorous, especially when taking them abroad, but also literally down-to-earth… for instance when checking bug traps in the galleries to prevent any risk of infestation. Moreover, the diversity that characterises the Gilbert Collection is also a constant source of new discoveries for me and colleagues alike.
Is there anything that you would be particularly keen to learn about? If so, I would love to hear from you! And I look forward to sharing some more insights on the fascinating Gilbert Collection.
Dear Melodie Doumy, I wrote an email to the curators of the Gilbert Collection, and sent it to gilbertcollection@vam.ac.uk. Is this the best email to use? I would like to send my letter directly to you, as it contains photos of my micro beadwork directly inspired by the Gilbert Collection, and i would very much enjoy for you to see it. thank you for your consideration, please let me know how best to email you, sincerely, Nome May
Dear Nome May, If you have a query and would like me to have a look at some photographs, please send them to me by post at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s address. Many thanks for your interest and for reading the blog!
The Gilbert collection feels priceless to me . As well as the two of you thankyou m lord and god for taking such great care of it and I pray I can see them one day soon.