Significant donors, collectors and dealers associated with the Museum and the history of its collections since its establishment in 1852, with sources of information available for their study including details of the resources in the V&A Archive.
Stefano Bardini
Stefano Bardini was born on 13 May 1836 in Pieve Santo Stefano in the Province of Arezzo, Italy. He trained as a pa…
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Siegfried 'Samuel' Bing
Siegfried Bing was an art dealer who was very influential in introducing Japanese art and artworks to the West and …
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Dr Franz Johann Joseph Bock
Dr Franz Johann Joseph Bock was a German ecclesiologist and collector who sold an important collection of textiles …
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Giampietro Campana
Giampietro Campana was the owner of a large collection of maiolica wares and sculpture, much of which was purchased…
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Isabel Constable
Isabel Constable was the daughter of the famous artist John Constable. In 1888 she left to the Museum the contents …
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David Martin Currie
David Martin Currie was a wealthy shipowner who loaned numerous objects (including ceramics, manuscripts, metalwork…
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Joshua Dixon
Joshua Dixon was a merchant and art collector who bequeathed his collection of pictures to the Bethnal Green Museum…
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Sir George Donaldson
Sir George Donaldson was an art dealer and collector who sold or donated many items to the South Kensington Museum.…
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Durlacher Brothers
Durlacher Brothers was a successful art dealership which acted as agent and advisor to the V&A for several decades …
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George Eumorfopoulos
George Eumorfopoulos was a distinguished collector of European and Oriental porcelain. A member of the V&A’s Adviso…
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Dame Joan Evans
Dame Joan Evans was a scholar of Medieval art and a member of the V&A’s Advisory Council. She donated her extensive…
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Sir Augustus Woolaston Franks
Sir Augustus Woolaston Franks was a Keeper at the British Museum and President of the Society of Antiquaries. His c…
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Fulgence et Fils
Fulgence was a Parisian art dealership that sold many objects to the South Kensington Museum and acted as its agent…
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Dr Robert Forrer
Robert Forrer corresponded frequently with the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1893 and 1920, offering for sale …
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Charles Drury Edward Fortnum
Charles Drury Edward Fortnum became involved with the South Kensington Museum when he loaned objects to its ‘Specia…
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Signor Gherardini
The Gherardini collection of terracottas and wax sculptural sketches was acquired by Her Majesty’s Government for d…
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William Giuseppi Gulland
William Giuseppe Gulland’s abundant collection of Chinese porcelain was left to the Museum, by his will, following …
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Obituary of Walter Leo Hildburgh
A page dedicated to the life and collecting practices of Dr W L Hildburgh. He was a devoted collector of works of a…
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Talbot Hughes
Talbot Hughes was an artist who formed a large collection of English historical costumes and accessories, dating fr…
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John George Joicey
John George Joicey loaned many ceramic objects, inlaid guns and furniture to the V&A which were later bequeathed by…
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John Jones
John Jones was a business man and art collector who bequeathed his large collection of objects, including paintings…
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Lt-Col George Babington Croft Lyons
George Babington Croft Lyons was an antiquary and collector who loaned, and later bequeathed, 978 objects (ceramics…
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Murray Marks
Murray Marks (1840-1918) was a Dutch art dealer and collector who presented many gifts to the Museum as well as sel…
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John Pierpont Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was a banker, financier and art collector who loaned a portion of his collection to the Museum…
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Mary (May) Morris
May Morris, daughter of William Morris, bequeathed ceramics, table glass, embroideries, textiles, designs and jewel…
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William Morris and the history of the V&A collections
William Morris was an influential supporter of the South Kensington Museum. His firm contributed to the decoration …
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Captain Henry Boyles Murray
Henry Boyles Murray bequeathed his collection including porcelain and metalwork to the Museum together with £50,000…
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Charles Fairfax Murray
Charles Fairfax Murray was an artist, art connoisseur, collector and dealer who made important contributions to the…
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John Meeson Parsons
The South Kensington Museum selected oil paintings and watercolours from John Meeson Parsons’ collection on his dea…
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Emile Peyre
Emile Peyre was a notable Parisian collector of medieval and renaissance artefacts. In 1895 the South Kensington Mu…
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The Anne and Fernand Renier collection of children’s books
The Renier collection of children’s books ranges from works by Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Hans Christian Ande…
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George Salting
George Salting’s vast collection of ceramics was lent to the Museum and displayed together as the Salting Collectio…
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Charlotte Schreiber
Charlotte Schreiber spent 15 years travelling across Europe collecting ceramics and she gave a significant collecti…
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Major-General Sir Robert J. Murdoch Smith
Major-General Sir Robert J. Murdoch Smith acted as agent for the Department of Science and Art in Iran where he rep…
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The Sheepshanks collection
In 1857 Sheepshanks founded the paintings collection of the V&A with a gift of 233 paintings and a similar number o…
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Prince Peter Soltykoff
Prince Peter Soltykoff’s vast collection of medieval objects was disposed of in a sale in Paris in 1861, from which…
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Jules Soulages
Jules Soulages was a collector of French and Italian Renaissance art; after his death his collection was acquired b…
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Chauncy Hare Townshend
Chauncy Hare Townshend was a friend of Charles Dickens and later his literary executor. He bequeathed to the Museum…
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Oppi Untracht bequest
The American jewellery historian, teacher, and trained metalworker and jeweller, who died in 2008, bequeathed to th…
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John Webb
John Webb acted as an auction sales agent for the Museum, initially lending and later selling his diverse collectio…
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Reading list - important donors, collectors and dealers associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum
Since its establishment in 1852, the Victoria and Albert Museum (or South Kensington Museum as it was named between…
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Auguste Rodin
A group of 18 bronze, marble and terracotta sculptures by Auguste Rodin were lent to the V&A when the outbreak of t…
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Ralph Bernal
Ralph Bernal was a British politician and collector; following his death in 1854, many objects from his collection …
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Alessandro Castellani
Alessandro Castellani was an Italian jeweller and collector with an international reputation. The Museum’s attempt …
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Alexander Dyce
Alexander Dyce was a literary scholar and textual editor who bequeathed his substantial library and art collection …
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Joseph Henry Fitzhenry
Joseph Henry Fitzhenry loaned and gave many objects to the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1870 and 1913. In 191…
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History of the V&A building
This is the subject hub for History of the V&A building
History of the V&A
This is the subject hub for History of the V&A
Obituary of Sir Eric Maclagan KCVO, CBE
Sir Eric Maclagan (1879–1951) joined the V&A in 1905 firstly in the Textiles department and then the Architecture & Sculpture department. In 1916 he was seconded to the Foreign Office, becoming the Ministry of Information’s controller for France in 1918, and was attached to the British peace delegation in Paris in 1919. In 1924 he was appointed director of the V&A and brought in many ideas which are now seen as central to running a modern museum such selling postcards and Christmas cards of museum objects, publishing popular books about the collections, free public lectures, and gallery guides.
Obituary of Peter Thornton, CBE
Peter Kai Thornton (1925–2007) was one of a number of curators who transformed the collecting, the display and the scholarship of the Victoria & Albert Museum. He joined the Museum in 1954, in the Department of Textiles, moving in 1962 to the Department of Furniture and Woodwork, first as Assistant Keeper, and becoming Keeper in 1966.
Obituary of Sir John Charles Robinson CB, FSA
Sir John Charles Robinson (1824–1913) trained as an artist in Paris, but returned to the UK to take up teaching. In 1852 he was made the first superintendent of the art collections at the South Kensington Museum (renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1899). During his time in this position he greatly increased the Museum’s collections of Italian Renaissance works, giving it a unique position among the museums of Europe.
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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