Victorian Furniture Styles: Medieval and Tudor
Medieval styles appealed to the Victorian new rich because they endowed them with a ready-made British heritage. Th…
Go to pageVictorian furniture styles
This page describes various different Victorian styles of furniture. The styles vary and include Japanese designs, …
Read articleThe Story of Alma-Tadema and the Epps Family
Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a talented furniture designer and a leading Victorian painter. He worked on this screen wi…
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Installing the Leistler bookcase
The massive Leistler bookcase is the centrepiece of Room 101. It was previously in another room - presenting Museum…
Read articleFurniture timbers
Wood and metal are usually regarded as highly compatible materials. However, interactions between certain metals a…
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William Beckford's treasure chest
Showcasing a coffer-shaped display cabinet, William Beckford and Henry Edmund Goodridge. This coffer is the only kn…
Read articleMade for exhibition
Most of the things made around the middle of the century in the Victoria and Albert Museum's collections are of `ex…
Read articleObituaries of Clive Wainwright
Clive Wainwright (1942–99) was a furniture historian, with particular knowledge of 19th-century furniture designers…
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Victorian
During the Victorian age, when Queen Victoria was on the throne from 1837 to 1901, Britain was the most powerful nation in the world, undergoing an industrial revolution, social reform and advances in science, technology and culture. In 1851 the Great Exhibition, housed in the Crystal Palace, had an enormous impact on the development of art and design throughout the Victorian age and led to the founding of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Room 125b: Birth, Marriage & Death
Objects relating to birth, marriage and death in Victorian Britain are on display in this room. Rigid social conventions governed the public and private life for all but the poorest people. Most families marked birth, marriage and death with religious ceremonies.
Obituary of John Morley
John Harwood Morley (1933–2001) was a curator and writer on the decorative arts responsible for revitalising Brighton's museums and Royal Pavilion. He joined the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1985 as Keeper of the Department of Furniture and Interior Decoration, in which capacity he made some spectacular acquisitions and did much to raise the profile of 20th-century decorative arts studies.

Room 125c: Influences from Beyond Europe
This gallery shows objects from Victorian Britain when retailers sold a growing range of goods imported from Asia and the Islamic world.
Sex & Sexuality in the 19th century
Male anxieties in relation to both physical and mental health in the Victorian era often seem to have concentrated on the supposedly baleful effects of masturbation, which was alleged to cause a wide range of physical and mental disorders, and on venereal diseases, especially syphilis.
Donate to the Stained Glass Appeal
We are currently working on an exciting project to conserve and re-install the original stained glass on the landings of the Manfred and Lydia Gorvy Lecture Theatre. We need your help to raise £75,000 to bring these historical features back to their former glory for us all to enjoy.
Give nowShop online
Antelope Chair - Race Furniture for the V&A
The V&A Shop is delighted to announce its exclusive collaboration with Race Furniture on the reissue of the Antelope Chair in its original Festival of Britain yellow.
Buy nowEvent - Form, Fashion, Function: A Concise History of Furniture
Thu 24 January 2013 10:30

SHORT COURSE: Explore the fascinating history of European furniture, using objects, resources and expertise featured in the V&A’s new furniture gallery.
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