Overview shot of Makers and Curators, a new mini display curated by Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. Photo by David Parry for the V&A.
A ‘mini display’ selected by the V&A’s Royal Patron is on show from July 2025 until early 2026.
HRH the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, has selected nine objects for a brand new public display at V&A East Storehouse, titled Makers and Creators.
Chosen in collaboration with the museum’s curatorial team, the object represent and celebrate past makers and creators, and show how historic objects can influence fashion, design, film, art and creativity today.
Here is the list of objects in full.
1. A costume from The Sleeping Beauty ballet
Designed by leading stage designer Oliver Messel, this costume was worn by ballet dancer Diana Vere when she portrayed the Fairy of the Woodland Glades in The Royal Ballet’s 1960 production of The Sleeping Beauty.
2. A Beatrix Potter watercolour
This study of a forest glade – considered to be an unfinished work – was painted by children’s author Beatrix Potter some time between 1890 and 1913.
3. A photograph album of the Potter family
Beatrix’s father, Rupert, was a keen photographer when it was still an emerging technology. The photograph album dates from the 1870s – 1880s and contains many family photographs of Beatrix, her sibling, Walter, and their mother, Helen Potter.
4. A 15th-century earthenware tile
This tile, originally from South Cadbury Church in Somerset, England, is impressed with a design of interlacing bands.
5. A Morris & Co furnishing screen
This three-panel screen was designed by William Morris’s assistant J.H. Dearle in the mid-1880s. The embroidered panels show the designs ‘Parrot Tulip’, ‘Large Horned Poppy’ and ‘Anemone’.
6. A Welsh-made bedcover
This hand-quilted bedcover was made in Wales around 1830 – 40, and represents the practice of ‘piecing’ or ‘patchwork’, where small pieces of fabric are sewn together to make a decorative design.
7. A painting by George Henry Boughton
Titled A woman holding a marguerite, this oil painting was created by the Anglo-American artist George Henry Boughton at some point during the 1880s.
8. A Qing dynasty porcelain vase
This vase, from Jingdezhen, China, dates from between 1662 – 1722. Painted in underglaze blue, its neck is decorated with sprays of flowers, while the sides depict equestrian and other figures and rocky landscapes.
9. A sculpture by Clemence Dane
Clemence Dane was the pseudonym of the English novelist and playwright Winifred Ashton. A physical representation of her hands, this sculpture was created in the mid 20th century.
The Makers and Creators mini-display is on view as part of the self-guided experience at V&A East Storehouse.
Through the V&A’s radical new Order an Object service, anyone can book to access any object at V&A East Storehouse, for free, seven-days-a-week.
Discover more celebrity encounters with objects in our collections in our Unexpected Item series on YouTube.
Wonderful article, however, it contains some very incorrect information: the title of the Royal Patron of the V&A is actually HRH Catherine, The Princess of Wales, not Kate Middleton, which is not her real name. This error is completely incomprehensible for this article. So, if you could fix this.
“the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton” really?Why use her maiden name? She’s The Princess of Wales!
At the store house today I was told it was Kate Middleton’s display. I had to ask who that was. I wonder if it’s some kind of policy to call her Kate Middleton. Loved the display and it’s good to understand something of it’s context.
Whatever we would call her, she has made a very beautiful and interesting choice of objects!