Room 52: Portraiture, Public Entertainment and Chinoiserie
The George Levy Gallery looks at the effect public entertainment areas, such as the Spring Gardens in Vauxhall, had…
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Room 52a: Britain Discovery Area
In this Discovery Area, you have the opportunity to try on a hoop or tie a cravat and even attempt to put together …
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Room 52b: Spitalfields Silks & Taking Tea
This room has an interesting combination of objects relating to tea-drinking in the mid 17th century as well as the…
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Room 53: Rococo Style
Room 53 is a study into the flamboyant Rococo style. It was used mainly for objects and interiors and never used fo…
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Room 53a: More Rococo & Developments in Ceramics
Room 53a delves further into the asymmetrical Rococo style . Motifs which typify the style such as 'C' and 'S' scro…
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Room 54: Baroque, Palladianism and Propaganda
Room 54 reflects the flourishing of skills such as decorative painting, carving, metalwork and upholstery in the ex…
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Room 54a: The Melville Bed
The Melville Bed was commissioned by George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville, for his new house in Fife.…
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Room 55: Britain Study Area
Room 55 is one of two study areas in the British Galleries, also in the room is an installation, Breathless, by con…
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Room 56: The Civil War Years
The Djanogly Gallery contains a vivid display on the magnificent dressing of the nobility in the early 1700s. This …
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Room 56c: Britain & the Indies
This room looks at the development of British art and design in the late 17th and early 18th centuries as a result …
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Room 57: The Great Bed of Ware
he enormous, three-metre-wide, Great Bed of Ware dominates Room 57. Probably built for an inn at Ware, Hertfordshir…
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Room 58: Renaissance Style
Henry VIII, a great patron of the arts, spent lavishly on furnishings, paintings, tapestries and silver. Examples o…
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Room 58b: Heraldry & Sheldon Tapestries
Room 58b contains a display on heraldry in the 16th century as well as a selection of Sheldon tapestries. William S…
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Room 118: Neo-classicism in Britain
This Wolfson Gallery looks at how Neo-classicism transformed architecture and design in Britain in the second half …
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Room 120: Beckford, Hope & Regency Classicism
The Wolfson Galleries feature several personalities who influenced art and design in the early 19th century. Among …
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Room 121: Britain Study Area
Room 121 is one of two study areas in the British Galleries also in the room is an installation, Breathless, by con…
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Room 122: Gothic Revival & Empire
Room 122 looks at the Gothic Revival in architecture and design in the 19th century. During this time, powerful rel…
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Room 122b: Britain Discovery Area
Room 122b is one of three Discovery Areas within the British Galleries. Here you can try on a corset or a crinolin…
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Room 122c: Furniture, Technological Innovations
Room 122c looks at the impact of technological change on product design and manufacturing in the Victorian age. In …
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Room 122d: Gothic Revival
The display on the Gothic Revival in the mid 19th century beginning in Room 122 continues here. The Gothic style wh…
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Room 123: Celebration & Commemoration
Room 123 includes an interesting display of commemorative items made for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.…
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Room 125: Morris, Dresser & Mackintosh
This Edwin and Susan Davies Gallery looks at the different styles which prevailed in the late 19th century. These i…
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Room 122b: Britain Discovery Area
Room 122b is one of three Discovery Areas within the British Galleries. Here you can try on a corset or a crinolin…
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Room 125c: Influences from Beyond Europe
This gallery shows objects from Victorian Britain when retailers sold a growing range of goods imported from Asia a…
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'Method in our Madness': Method Statements and the British Galleries
This is the story of how the V& A moved a vast number of objects with the relative certainty that they would be handled, packed and transported quickly, safely and economically.
Editorial - British Galleries
Editorial by Nick Umney
Poems about the V&A: 'Once Upon A Time' by Valerie Bloom
In 2002 the V&A and the Poetry Book Society commissioned five poets to create new works inspired by the British Galleries 1500-1900. The poets were invited to come and explore the galleries at their leisure and select which object might take their fancy. Valerie Bloom's poem was inspired by a Staffordshire beer-jug decorated with Abolitionist (anti-slavery) motifs.
Poems about the V&A: 'Mary's elephant, Elizabeth's spinet' by Ruth Padel
In 2002 the V&A and the Poetry Book Society commissioned five poets to create new works inspired by the British Galleries 1500-1900. The poets were invited to come and explore the galleries at their leisure and select which object might take their fancy. Ruth Padel's poem was inspired by two objects: a spinet probably belonging to Elizabeth I, and an embroidered panel probably made by Mary, Queen of Scots.
Poems about the V&A: 'Antimony' by Antony Dunn
In 2002 the V&A and the Poetry Book Society commissioned five poets to create new works inspired by the British Galleries 1500-1900. The poets were invited to come and explore the galleries at their leisure and select which object might take their fancy. Antony Dunn's poem was inspired by an antimony cup.
A gift in your will
You may not have thought of including a gift to a museum in your will, but the V&A is a charity and legacies form an important source of funding for our work. It is not just the great collectors and the wealthy who leave legacies to the V&A. Legacies of all sizes, large and small, make a real difference to what we can do and your support can help ensure that future generations enjoy the V&A as much as you have.
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Design and the Decorative Arts: Victorian Britain 1837-1901
Tells the story of design and the decorative arts in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Buy nowEvent - Recording Britain: Constable and his Contemporaries
Thu 28 June 2012 13:00
GALLERY TALK: Constable painted his 'own places best'. Discover what the artist thought about these places and how accurately he recorded these areas in comparison to how some of his contemporaries painted Britain.
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