Save the Wolsey Angels – Johanna Stephenson, Senior Sales Assistant

‘To think that for so long people may have owned these statues and been completely unaware of what they were!’

In this series of blogs we’re interviewing various members of staff who come in contact with the Wolsey Angels which we are currently trying to reunite, to try and find out just what it would mean to each of them if we could save the Angels.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Johanna and I am a Senior Sales Assistant in the V&A shop. You will normally find me working in the fashion shop but I also help out in all the other shops too. Although my job role is pretty varied, for most of the day you will find me out on the shop floor serving and helping our customers with a smile on my face! I have been working at the V&A since January, although I’ve been working in retail for the last five years. I studied religious studies and theology at university and I’m really interested in history also. Hampton Court Palace was the very first place I visited when I first moved to London a few years ago and it’s still one of my favourite places to spend a day, so the Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII connection with there is interesting. The connection of these angels with two such influential and, for various reasons interesting, men from our country’s history is fascinating and whenever I walk past them I feel a connection with the past – its very humbling to think that these are the same statues that these men, hundreds of years ago, also cast their eyes upon. It would be wonderful to reunite all four angels together finally and what better place for that than the V&A!

This much I know

I think its true to say that all the staff in the V&A gift shop have a genuine interest in art, history and the objects and artefacts in our Museum. In fact, when the ‘plight of the angels’ first came to our attention, many discussions could be overheard in the break room about the history of the angels, with staff passing on extra pieces of knowledge and interesting facts to each other.

The retail team is contributing to the cause by selling Wolsey Angel badges at £1 each. The badges, featuring the head of one of the angels with the V&A logo and the ‘Save the Wolsey Angels’ motto are placed on our till points and are available for customers to pick up and purchase. They make a great conversation starter with customers, who are often very keen to learn the story of the angels which we will quite happily share with them. Even better, some of our customers already know the story; some people have read about it on our website or elsewhere and they may have already visited the Angels in the Medieval and Renaissance  Galleries already and they are happy to help. The badges themselves look great on a bag or a shirt, and they serve a twofold purpose: firstly all the proceeds go directly towards buying the Wolsey Angels for the V&A (so every time you buy a badge or donate money you are helping to buy a tiny part of an angel!) and secondly they’re about raising awareness of the campaign beyond the walls of the Museum. We are hoping that after a visitor has kindly bought a badge, they will wear it out and about with pride and their friends, family, perhaps even strangers will ask them “What are these Wolsey Angels?” and then the story will spread!

An interesting aside

What I find really interesting about the angels is that for so long they were ‘lost’ and that no one knew the angels still existed until recently. Even in 1994, when two of the angels appeared at a Sotheby’s they were simply listed as being ‘in Italian Renaissance Style’. To think that for so long people may have owned these statues and been completely unaware of what they were!

Badges are on sale in the V&A shop, at the Museum of Childhood and are also available online.

You can also make a direct donation to help Save the Wolsey Angels  online

or text VAWA14 £5 to 70070