Editing Victoria and Albert Museum (section)

== Collections ==
The collecting areas of the museum are not easy to summarize, having evolved partly through attempts to avoid too much overlap with other national museums in London.  Generally, the classical world of the West and the [[Ancient Near East]] is left to the British Museum, and Western paintings to the [[National Gallery]], though there are all sorts of exceptions{{mdash}}for example, painted [[portrait miniature]]s, where the V&A has the main national collection.

The Victoria & Albert Museum is split into four curatorial departments: Decorative Art and Sculpture; Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion; Art, Architecture, Photography and Design; and Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vacancyfiller.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/UploadedFiles/AdvertAttachments/2021/D4vrtbVU9tyB5YfUQVKq-g%253d%253d/69c4c965-2465-4621-b120-bad9c82d2d13?X-Amz-Expires=604800&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%22CuratorJD-Photography-FINAL.pdf%22&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJSKWO7UNT66QDLJQ/20211012/eu-west-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20211012T095106Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=14cc5f34315496ee6f4eb5c813ac5f0cddef2b3690be180e54724b6bb10152b5|title=Curator of Photography Job Description |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref> The museum curators care for the objects in the collection and provide access to objects that are not currently on display to the public and scholars.

The collection departments are further divided into sixteen display areas, whose combined collection numbers over 6.5&nbsp; million objects, not all objects are displayed or stored at the V&A. There is a repository at [[Blythe House]], West Kensington, as well as annex institutions managed by the V&A,<ref>V&A Collecting Plan Including Acquisition & Disposal Policy, August 2004.</ref> also the museum lends exhibits to other institutions. The following lists each of the collections on display and the number of objects within the collection.

{| class="wikitable"
! Collection !! Number of objects
|-
| Architecture (annex of the RIBA) || 2,050,000
|-
| Asia || 160,000
|-
| British Galleries (cross department display) || ...
|-
| Ceramics || 74,000
|-
| Childhood (annex of the V&A) || 20,000
|-
| Design, Architecture and Digital || 800 
|-
| Fashion & Jewellery || 28,000
|-
| Furniture || 14,000
|-
| Glass || 6,000
|-
| Metalwork || 31,000
|-
| Paintings & Drawings || 202,500
|-
| Photography || 500,000
|-
| Prints & Books || 1,500,000
|-
| Sculpture || 17,500
|-
| Textiles || 38,000
|-
| Theatre (includes V&A Theatre Collections Reading Room, an annexe of the former [[Theatre Museum]]) || 1,905,000
|}

The museum has 145 galleries, but given the vast extent of the collections, only a small percentage is ever on display. Many acquisitions have been made possible only with the assistance of the [[National Art Collections Fund]].

===Architecture===
In 2004, the V&A alongside Royal Institute of British Architects opened the first permanent gallery in the UK<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/architecture/va_riba/index.html |title=About the V&A and RIBA Architecture Partnership Collections&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=6 May 2011 |access-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528153616/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/architecture/va_riba/index.html |archive-date=28 May 2010 }}</ref> covering the history of architecture with displays using models, photographs, elements from buildings and original drawings. With the opening of the new gallery, the RIBA Drawings and Archives Collection has been transferred to the museum, joining the already extensive collection held by the V&A. With over 600,000 drawings, over 750,000 papers and paraphernalia, and over 700,000 photographs from around the world, together they form the world's most comprehensive architectural resource.

Not only are all the major British architects of the last four hundred years represented, but many European (especially Italian) and American architects' drawings are held in the collection. The RIBA's holdings of over 330 drawings by [[Andrea Palladio]] are the largest in the world;<ref>Lewis, Douglas, ''The Drawings of Andrea Palladio'', 2nd edition, 2000.</ref> other Europeans well represented are Jacques Gentilhatre<ref>Coope, Rosalys, ''Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the RIBA: Jacques Gentilhatre'', 1972.</ref> and [[Antonio Visentini]].<ref>McAndrew, John, ''Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the RIBA: Antonio Visentini'', 1974.</ref> British architects whose drawings, and in some cases models of their buildings, in the collection, include: [[Inigo Jones]],<ref>Harris, John, and Gordon Higgott, ''Inigo Jones Complete Architectural Drawings'', 1989.</ref> Sir [[Christopher Wren]], Sir [[John Vanbrugh]], [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]], [[William Kent]], [[James Gibbs]], [[Robert Adam]],<ref>Alister Rowan, ''Catalogues of Architectural Drawings in the V&A: Robert Adam'', 1988.</ref> Sir [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]],<ref>Snodin, Michael (ed.), ''Catalogues of Architectural Drawings in the V&A: Sir William Chambers'', 1996.</ref> [[James Wyatt]], [[Henry Holland (architect)|Henry Holland]], [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]], Sir [[John Soane]],<ref>De la Ruffuniere du Prey, Pierre, ''Catalogues of Architectural Drawings in the V&A: Sir John Soane'', 1985.</ref> Sir [[Charles Barry]], [[Charles Robert Cockerell]], [[Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin]],<ref>Wedgwood, Alexandra, ''Catalogues of Architectural Drawings in the V&A: A. W. N. Pugin and the Pugin Family'', 1985.</ref> Sir [[George Gilbert Scott]], [[John Loughborough Pearson]], [[George Edmund Street]], [[Richard Norman Shaw]], Alfred Waterhouse, Sir [[Edwin Lutyens]], [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]], [[Charles Holden]], [[Frank Hoar]], Lord [[Richard Rogers]], Lord [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster]], Sir [[Nicholas Grimshaw]], [[Zaha Hadid]] and [[Alick Horsnell]].

As well as [[period room]]s, the collection includes parts of buildings, for example, the two top stories of the facade of Sir [[Paul Pindar]]'s house<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Gotch/pages/109-window-from-sir-paul-pindars-house/ |title=109. The window from Sir Paul Pindar's House, Bishopsgate. [image 400x556 pixels&#93; |publisher=Fromoldbooks.org |access-date=12 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/sir-paul-pindars-house/ |title=Image&nbsp;– V&A |date=13 January 2011 |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=12 May 2011}}</ref> dated {{circa}} 1600 from [[Bishopsgate]] with elaborately carved woodwork and leaded windows, a rare survivor of the [[Great Fire of London]], there is a brick portal from a London house of the [[English Restoration]] period and a fireplace from the gallery of Northumberland house. European examples include a dormer window dated 1523–1535 from the chateau of Montal. There are several examples from Italian Renaissance buildings including, portals, fireplaces, balconies and a stone buffet that used to have a built-in fountain. The main architecture gallery has a series of pillars from various buildings and different periods, for example, a column from the [[Alhambra]]. Examples covering Asia are in those galleries concerned with those countries, as well as models and photographs in the main architecture gallery.

In June 2022, the RIBA announced it would be terminating its 20-year partnership with the V&A in 2027, "by mutual agreement", ending the permanent architecture gallery at the museum. Artefacts will be transferred back to the RIBA's existing collections, with some rehoused at the institute's headquarters at 66 Portland Place building, set to become a new House of Architecture following a £20 million refurbishment.<ref name="Waite-07Jun2022">{{cite news |last1=Waite |first1=Richard |title=RIBA and V&A rip up 20-year-old deal to showcase architecture collection |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/riba-and-va-rip-up-20-year-old-deal-to-showcase-architecture-collection |access-date=7 June 2022 |publisher=Architects' Journal |date=7 June 2022}}</ref>

=== Asia ===
[[File:Turkish Chimney Tilework, V&A Museum, London - Diliff.jpg|thumb|upright|Tilework Chimneypiece, Turkey, probably Istanbul, dated 1731]]
The V&A's collection of Art from Asia numbers more than 160,000 objects, one of the largest in existence. It has one of the world's most comprehensive and important collections of Chinese art whilst the collection of South Asian Art is the most important in the West. The museum's coverage includes pieces from South and South East Asia, Himalayan kingdoms, China, the Far East and the Islamic world.

==== Islamic art ====
The V&A holds over 19,000 objects from the Islamic world, ranging from the early Islamic period (the 7th century) to the early 20th century. The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, opened in 2006, houses a representative display of 400 objects with the highlight being the [[Ardabil Carpet]], the centrepiece of the gallery. The displays in this gallery cover objects from Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Afghanistan. A masterpiece of [[Islamic art]] is a 10th-century [[Rock crystal ewer]]. Many examples of [[Qur'ān]]s with exquisite [[calligraphy]] dating from various periods are on display. A 15th-century [[minbar]] from a [[Cairo]] mosque with ivory forming complex geometrical patterns inlaid in wood is one of the larger objects on display. Extensive examples of ceramics especially [[Iznik]] pottery, glasswork including 14th-century lamps from mosques and metalwork are on display. The collection of Middle Eastern and [[Persian rug]]s and carpets is amongst the finest in the world, many were part of the Salting Bequest of 1909. Examples of tile work from various buildings including a fireplace dated 1731 from [[Istanbul]] made of intricately decorated blue and white tiles and turquoise tiles from the exterior of buildings from [[Samarkand]] are also displayed.

==== South Asia ====
[[File:Shahjahancup.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Wine cup of Shah Jahan.]]

The museum's collections of South and South-East Asian art are the most comprehensive and important in the West comprising nearly 60,000 objects, including about 10,000 textiles and 6,000 paintings,<ref name="vam.ac.uk asia">{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/about/index.html |title=About the Collection&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=8 March 2004 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321074530/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/about/index.html |archive-date=21 March 2009 }}</ref> the range of the collection is immense. The [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] gallery of [[Indian art]], opened in 1991, contains art from about 500 BC to the 19th century. There is an extensive collection of sculptures, mainly of a religious nature, [[Hindu]], [[Buddhist]] and [[Jain]]. The gallery is richly endowed with the art of the [[Mughal Empire]] and the [[Maratha Confederacy|Maratha Empire]], including fine portraits of the emperors and other paintings and drawings, jade wine cups and gold spoons inset with emeralds, diamonds and rubies, also from this period are parts of buildings such as a [[jali|jaali]] and pillars.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/south-asia,-room-41/ | title = Image&nbsp;– V&A | publisher = vam.ac.uk | date = 14 August 2011 | access-date = 21 August 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110801165210/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/south-asia,-room-41/ | archive-date = 1 August 2011 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref> India was a large producer of textiles, from dyed cotton [[chintz]], [[muslin]] to rich [[embroidery]] work using gold and silver thread, coloured sequins and beads is displayed, as are carpets from [[Agra]] and [[Lahore]]. Examples of clothing are also displayed. In 1879–80, the collections of the defunct [[East India Company]]'s [[India Museum]] were transferred to the V&A and the British Museum. Items in the collection include [[Tipu's Tiger]], an 18th-century automaton created for [[Tipu Sultan]], the ruler of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]]. The [[Wine cup of Shah Jahan|personal wine cup of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan]] is also on display.

==== East Asia ====
The Far Eastern collections include more than 70,000 works of art<ref name="vam.ac.uk asia" /> from the countries of East Asia: China, Japan and Korea. The T. T. Tsui Gallery of [[Chinese art]] opened in 1991, displaying a representative collection of the V&As approximately 16,000 objects<ref name="vam150facts-2011">{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/v-and-a-150th-anniversary/ |title=150 Facts about the V&A for the 150th Anniversary&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729031909/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/v-and-a-150th-anniversary/ |archive-date=29 July 2011 }}</ref> from China, dating from the 4th millennium BC to the present day. Though the majority of artworks on display date from the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] dynasties, there are objects dating from the [[Tang dynasty]] and earlier periods, among them a metre-high bronze head of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] dated to about 750 AD, and one of the oldest works, a 2000-year-old [[jade]] horse head from a burial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Head of a horse |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O14525/head-of-a-horse-figurine-unknown/ |website=V&A}}</ref> Other sculptures include life-size tomb guardians. Classic examples of Chinese decorative arts on displayt include [[Chinese lacquer]], silk, [[Chinese porcelain]], jade and [[cloisonné]] enamel. Two large ancestor portraits of a husband and wife painted in watercolour on silk date from the 18th century. There is a unique [[Chinese lacquerware table]], made in the imperial workshops during the reign of the [[Xuande Emperor]] in the [[Ming dynasty]]. Examples of clothing are also displayed. One of the largest objects is a bed from the mid-17th century. The work of contemporary Chinese designers is also displayed.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The [[Toshiba]] gallery of [[Japanese art]] opened in December 1986. The majority of exhibits date from 1550 to 1900, but one of the oldest pieces displayed is the 13th-century sculpture of Amida Nyorai. Examples of classic Japanese armour from the mid-19th century, steel sword blades ([[Katana]]), [[Inrō]], lacquerware including the Mazarin Chest<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/conservation/research/projects/mazarin_chest/index.html | title = The Mazarin Chest Project&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum | publisher = vam.ac.uk | access-date = 21 August 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080429032527/http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/conservation/research/projects/mazarin_chest/index.html | archive-date = 29 April 2008 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> dated c1640 is one of the finest surviving pieces from [[Kyoto]], porcelain including [[Imari porcelain|Imari]], [[Netsuke]], [[woodblock prints]] including the work of [[Andō Hiroshige]], graphic works include printed books, as well as a few paintings, scrolls and screens, textiles and dress including [[kimono]] are some of the objects on display. One of the finest objects displayed is Suzuki Chokichi's bronze incense burner ([[koro (incense burner)|koro]]) dated 1875, standing at over 2.25 metres high and 1.25 metres in diameter it is also one of the largest examples made. The museum also holds some cloisonné pieces from the Japanese art production company, [[Ando Cloisonné Company|Ando Cloisonné]].

The smaller galleries cover Korea, the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] kingdoms and South East Asia. Korean displays include green-glazed ceramics, silk embroideries from officials' robes and gleaming boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl made between 500 AD and 2000. Himalayan works include important early Nepalese bronze sculptures, [[Repoussé and chasing|repoussé]] work and embroidery. Tibetan art from the 14th to the 19th century is represented by 14th- and 15th-century religious images in wood and bronze, scroll paintings and ritual objects. Art from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in gold, silver, bronze, stone, terracotta and ivory represents these rich and complex cultures, the displays span the 6th to 19th centuries. Refined Hindu and Buddhist sculptures reflect the influence of India; items on the show include betel-nut cutters, ivory combs and bronze [[palanquin]] hooks.

<gallery>
File:WLA vanda Pakistan Kusana Dynasty Bodhisattva Maitreya.jpg|Bodhisattva Maitreya, Gandhara, Pakistan, Kusana Dynasty, 2nd-4th century AD
File:India, madhya pradesh, jina parshvanatha dalla tempèesta, 600-700.JPG|Image depicting [[Parshvanatha|Lord Parshvanatha]], India, 7th Century
File:India, uttar pradesh, jina rishabhanatha, 800-900.JPG|Image depicting [[Rishabhanatha|Lord Rishabhanatha]] dated 9th century, India
File:Rock crystal ewer.jpg|10th-century, Rock crystal ewer
File:India, orissa, dea ambika, 1150-1200.JPG|[[Ambika (Jainism)|Jain Goddess Ambika]], Odisha, India, 12th century
File:WLA vanda Lidded incense burner.jpg|Japanese Incense Burner, Signed 'Dai Nippon, Koko Sei', Patinated bronze inlaid with gilt bronze and other soft metal alloys {{circa|1877}}
File:Betel container.jpg|Betel container, 19th century, Filigree work in gold on a [[gold ground]], outlined with bands of rubies and imitation emeralds, Mandalay, Burma
</gallery>

===Books===
The museum houses the [[National Art Library]], a public library<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/prints_books/books/index.html |title=Book Collections&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=21 October 2010 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506074922/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/prints_books/books/index.html |archive-date=6 May 2010 }}</ref> containing over 750,000 books, photographs, drawings, paintings, and prints. It is one of the world's largest libraries dedicated to the study of fine and decorative arts. The library covers all areas and periods of the museum's collections with special collections covering [[illuminated manuscript]]s, rare books and artists' letters and archives.

The library consists of three large public rooms, with around a hundred individual study desks. These are the West Room, Centre Room and Reading Room. The centre room contains 'special collection material'.

[[File:Leonardo da vinci, taccuino forster III, 1490 ca. 01.JPG|thumb|Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Forster III, 1490–1505 (Room 64)]]
One of the great treasures in the library is the Codex Forster, one of [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s note books. The Codex consists of three parchment-bound manuscripts, Forster I, Forster II, and Forster III,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vandaimages.com/results.asp?cat1=Leonardo+da+Vinci&X8=2-33 | title = Stock photo and image search by V&A Images | publisher = VandAimages.com | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref> quite small in size, dated between 1490 and 1505. Their contents include a large collection of sketches and references to the equestrian sculpture commissioned by the Duke of Milan [[Ludovico Sforza]] to commemorate his father [[Francesco Sforza]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks · V&A |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/leonardo-da-vincis-notebooks |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}</ref> These were bequeathed with over 18,000 books to the museum in 1876 by [[John Forster (biographer)|John Forster]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/n/national-art-library-forster-collection/ | title = Forster Collection&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum | publisher = vam.ac.uk | date = 14 August 2011 | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref> The Reverend [[Alexander Dyce]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/n/national-art-library-dyce-collection/ | title = Dyce Collection&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum | publisher = vam.ac.uk | date = 14 August 2011 | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref> was another benefactor of the library, leaving over 14,000 books to the museum in 1869. Amongst the books he collected are early editions in Greek and Latin of the poets and playwrights [[Aeschylus]], [[Aristotle]], [[Homer]], [[Livy]], [[Ovid]], [[Pindar]], [[Sophocles]] and [[Virgil]]. More recent authors include [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], [[Dante]], [[Jean Racine|Racine]], [[Rabelais]] and [[Molière]].

Writers whose papers are in the library are as diverse as [[Charles Dickens]] (that includes the manuscripts of most of his novels) and [[Beatrix Potter]] (with the greatest collection of her original manuscripts in the world).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/people/b/beatrix-potter/ | title = Beatrix Potter Collections&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum | publisher = vam.ac.uk | access-date = 21 August 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110811181209/http://www.vam.ac.uk/people/b/beatrix-potter/ | archive-date = 11 August 2011 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Illuminated manuscripts in the library dating from the 12th to 16th centuries include: a leaf from the [[Eadwine Psalter]], [[Canterbury]]; Pocket [[Book of Hours]], [[Reims]]; [[Missal]] from the [[Basilica of St Denis|Royal Abbey of Saint Denis]], Paris; the [[Simon Marmion]] Book of Hours, [[Bruges]]; 1524 Charter illuminated by [[Lucas Horenbout]], London; the Armagnac manuscript of the trial and rehabilitation of [[Joan of Arc]], [[Rouen]].<ref>Watson, Rowan, ''Illuminated Manuscripts and Their Makers'', 2003.</ref> also the Victorian period is represented by William Morris.

The National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum collection catalogue used to be kept in different formats including printed exhibit catalogues, and card catalogues. A computer system called MODES cataloguing system was used from the 1980s to the 1990s, but those electronic files were not available to the library users.  All of the archival material at the National Art Library is using Encoded Archival Description (EAD).  The Victoria and Albert Museum has a computer system but most of the items in the collection, unless those were newly accessioned into the collection, probably do not show up in the computer system.  There is a feature on the Victoria and Albert Museum website called "Search the Collections," but not everything is listed there.<ref name=dodds />

The National Art Library also includes a collection of comics and comic art. Notable parts of the collection include the [[Krazy Kat]] Arkive, comprising 4,200 comics, and the Rakoff Collection, comprising 17,000 pieces collected by the writer and editor Ian Rakoff.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Comics in the National Art Library|url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/n/national-art-library-comics-and-comic-art-collection/|website = www.vam.ac.uk|access-date = 19 October 2015|author1=Victoria and Albert Museum |author2=Online Museum |author3=Web Team |date = 25 September 2012}}</ref>

The Victoria and Albert Museum's Word and Image Department was under the same pressure being felt in archives around the world, to digitise their collection.  A large scale digitisation project began in 2007 in that department. That project was entitled the Factory Project to reference [[Andy Warhol]] and to create a factory to completely digitise the collection.  The first step of the Factory Project was to take photographs using digital cameras.  The Word and Image Department had a collection of old photos but they were in black and white and in variant conditions, so new photos were shot.  Those new photographs will be accessible to researchers to the Victoria and Albert Museum web-site.  15,000 images were taken during the first year of the Factory Project, including drawings, watercolors, computer-generated art, photographs, posters, and woodcuts.  The second step of the Factory Project is to catalogue everything. The third step of the Factory Project is to audit the collection.  All of those items which were photographed and catalogued, must be audited to make sure everything listed as being in the collection was physically found during the creation of the Factory Project.  The fourth goal of the Factory Project is conservation, which means performing some basic preventable procedures to those items in the department.  There is a "Search the Collections" feature on the Victoria and Albert web-site.  The main impetus behind the large-scale digitisation project called the Factory Project was to list more items in the collections in those computer databases.<ref name=dodds>{{cite journal|last=Dodds|first=D.|author2=Ravilious, E. |title=The Factory Project: digitisation at the Victoria and Albert Museum|journal=Art Libraries Journal|year=2009|volume=34|issue=2|pages=10–16|doi=10.1017/S0307472200015820|s2cid=114843233}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:BLW Manuscript Book of Hours, about 1480-90.jpg|BLW Manuscript Book of Hours, about 1480–1490
File:BLW Qur'an.jpg|BLW Qur'an
</gallery>

===British galleries===
These fifteen galleries—which opened in November 2001—contain around 4,000 objects. The displays in these galleries are based around three major themes: "Style", "Who Led Taste" and "What Was New". The period covered is 1500 to 1900, with the galleries divided into three major subdivisions:

* [[Tudor period|Tudor]] and [[House of Stuart|Stuart]] Britain, 1500–1714, covering the Renaissance, [[Elizabethan]], [[Jacobean era#Arts|Jacobean]], [[English Restoration|Restoration]] and [[Baroque]] styles
* [[Georgian period in British history|Georgian]] Britain, 1714–1837, covering [[Palladianism]], [[Rococo]], [[Chinoiserie]], [[Neoclassicism]], the [[British Regency|Regency]], the influence of [[Culture of China|Chinese]], [[Republic of India|Indian]] and [[Egyptian culture|Egyptian]] styles, and the early [[Gothic Revival]]
* [[Victorian era|Victorian]] Britain, 1837–1901, covering the later phases of the Gothic Revival, French influences, Classical and Renaissance revivals, [[Aestheticism]], [[Japanese art|Japanese style]], the continuing influence of China, India, and the Islamic world, the [[Arts and Crafts movement]] and the Scottish School.

Not only the work of British artists and craftspeople is on display, but also work produced by European artists that was purchased or commissioned by British patrons, as well as imports from Asia, including porcelain, cloth and wallpaper. Designers and artists whose work is on display in the galleries include [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], [[Grinling Gibbons]], [[Daniel Marot]], [[Louis Laguerre]], [[Antonio Verrio]], Sir [[James Thornhill]], William Kent, Robert Adam, Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton, Canova, [[Thomas Chippendale]], Pugin, William Morris. Patrons who have influenced taste are also represented by works of art from their collections, these include: [[Horace Walpole]] (a major influence on the Gothic Revival), [[William Thomas Beckford]] and [[Thomas Hope (1769–1831)|Thomas Hope]].

The galleries showcase a number of complete and partial reconstructions of period rooms, from demolished buildings, including:

* The parlour from 2 Henrietta Street, London, dated 1727–1728, designed by [[James Gibbs]]
* The [[Norfolk House]] Music Room,<ref>Fitz-Gerald, Desmond, ''The Norfolk House Music Room'', 1973.</ref> St James Square, London, dated 1756, designed by [[Matthew Brettingham]] and [[Giovanni Battista Borra]]
* A section of a wall from the Glass Drawing-Room of [[Northumberland House]], dated 1773–1775, designed by [[Robert Adam]]

Some of the more notable works displayed in the galleries include:
* Pietro Torrigiani's coloured terracotta bust of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], dated 1509–1511
* [[Henry VIII's writing desk]], dated 1525, made from walnut and oak, lined with leather and painted and gilded with the king's coat of arms
* A [[spinet]] dated 1570–1580, made for [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]
* The [[Great Bed of Ware]], dated 1590–1600, a large, elaborately carved four-poster bed with [[marquetry]] headboard
* [[Gianlorenzo Bernini]]'s [[bust of Thomas Baker]], from the 1630s
* 17th-century tapestries from the Sheldon and [[Mortlake Tapestry Works]]
* The wood relief of The Stoning of St Stephen, dated {{circa|1670}}, by Grinling Gibbons
* The Macclesfield Wine Set, dated 1719–1720, made by Anthony Nelme, the only complete set known to survive.
* The [[George Frederick Handel (Roubiliac)|life-size sculpture of George Frederick Handel]], dated 1738, by [[Louis-François Roubiliac]]
* Furniture by Thomas Chippendale and [[Robert Adam]]
*[[Bashaw (Matthew Cotes Wyatt)|The sculpture of Bashaw]], dated 1831–1834, by Matthew Cotes Wyatt<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/audio-bashaw/ | title = Bashaw&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum | publisher = vam.ac.uk | date = 21 April 2011 | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref>
* Aesthetic and Arts & Crafts furniture by [[Edward William Godwin]]<ref>Soros, Susan Weber (ed.), ''E. W. Godwin: Aesthetic Movement Architect and Designer'', 1999.</ref> and Charles Rennie Mackintosh;<ref>Snodin, Michael, and John Styles, ''Design & the Decorative Arts: Britain 1500–1900'', 2001.</ref> and carpets and interior textiles by William Morris.

The galleries also link design to wider trends in British culture. For instance, design in the Tudor period was influenced by the spread of printed books and the work of European artists and craftsmen employed in Britain. In the Stuart period, increasing trade, especially with Asia, enabled wider access to luxuries like carpets, lacquered furniture, silks and porcelain. In the Georgian age there was an increasing emphasis on entertainment and leisure. For example, the increase in tea drinking led to the production of tea paraphernalia such as china and caddies. European styles are seen on the [[Grand Tour]] also influenced taste. As the [[Industrial Revolution]] took hold, the growth of mass production produced entrepreneurs such as [[Josiah Wedgwood]], [[Matthew Boulton]] and [[Eleanor Coade]]. In the Victorian era new technology and machinery had a significant effect on manufacturing, and for the first time since the reformation, the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches had a major effect on art and design such as the Gothic Revival. There is a large display on the Great Exhibition which, among other things, led to the founding of the V&A. In the later 19th century, the increasing backlash against industrialisation, led by [[John Ruskin]], contributed to the Arts and Crafts movement.

<gallery>
File:Henry VIII's writing box.jpg|Henry VIII's writing box
File:Howardgracecup.jpg|Howard Grace Cup
File:Bed of Ware.jpg|[[Great Bed of Ware]], one of the largest beds of the world
File:Norfolkhouse.jpg|Norfolk House Music Room
File:Portland Vase V&A.jpg|Wedgwood Portland Vase
</gallery>

===Cast courts===
{{Main|Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)}}
One of the most dramatic parts of the museum is the Cast Courts, comprising two large, skylighted rooms two storeys high housing hundreds of [[plaster cast]]s of sculptures, [[frieze]]s and tombs. One of these is dominated by a full-scale replica of [[Trajan's Column]], cut in half to fit under the ceiling. The other includes reproductions of various works of Italian Renaissance sculpture and architecture, including a full-size replica of [[David (Michelangelo)|Michelangelo's ''David'']]. Replicas of two earlier [[David]]s by Donatello and [[David (Verrocchio)|Verrocchio]], are also included, although for conservation reasons the Verrocchio replica is displayed in a glass case.

The two courts are divided by corridors on both storeys, and the partitions that used to line the upper corridor (the Gilbert Bayes sculpture gallery) were removed in 2004 to allow the courts to be viewed from above.

<gallery>
File:Another Room of Casts.jpg|[[Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)|Room 46b; Cast Court]]—Plaster Cast of "[[Porta Magna]]" of [[San Petronio Basilica]], [[Bologna]] by [[Jacopo della Quercia]]
File:The Portico de la Gloira, Santiago de Compostela.jpg|[[Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)|Room 46a; Cast Court]]—Plaster Cast of the 'Pórtico da Gloria' in the [[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]]
File:CastRoom VictoriaAndAlbertMuseum.jpg|[[Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)|Cast Court]]—Plaster copy of [[Trajan's Column]]
File:P1060319.JPG|[[Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)|Room 46b; Cast Court]]—Plaster Cast of [[David (Michelangelo)|David]] and The Slave, by Michelangelo
File:Weston Cast Court in the Victoria and Albert Museum.JPG|Cast Court post-2014 restoration
</gallery>

===Ceramics and glass===
[[File:VA23Oct10 147.jpg|thumb|left|Part of the reserve collection of European ceramics, on display on the top floor.]]
This is the largest and most comprehensive ceramics and glass collection in the world, with over 80,000 objects from around the world. Every populated continent is represented.  Apart from the many pieces in the Primary Galleries on the ground floor, much of the top floor is devoted to galleries of ceramics of all periods covered, which include display cases with a representative selection, but also massed "visible storage" displays of the reserve collection.

Well represented in the collection is [[Meissen porcelain]], from the first factory in Europe to discover the Chinese method of making porcelain. Among the finest examples are the Meissen Vulture from 1731 and the [[Möllendorff Dinner Service]], designed in 1762 by Frederick II the Great. Ceramics from the [[Manufacture nationale de Sèvres]] are extensive, especially from the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection of 18th-century British porcelain is the largest and finest in the world. Examples from every factory are represented, the collections of [[Chelsea porcelain]] and [[Worcester porcelain]] being especially fine. All the major 19th-century British factories are also represented. A major boost to the collections was the Salting Bequest made in 1909, which enriched the museum's stock of Chinese and [[Japanese ceramics]]. This bequest forms part of the finest collection of East Asian pottery and porcelain in the world, including [[Kakiemon]] ware.
[[File:VA ceramics visible storage.jpg|thumb|Another view of the "visible storage"]]

Many famous potters, such as Josiah Wedgwood, [[William De Morgan]] and [[Bernard Leach]] as well as [[Mintons]] & [[Royal Doulton]] are represented in the collection. There is an extensive collection of [[Delftware]] produced in both Britain and Holland, which includes a circa 1695 flower pyramid over a metre in height. [[Bernard Palissy]] has several examples of his work in the collection including dishes, jugs and candlesticks. The largest objects in the collection are a series of elaborately ornamented ceramic stoves from the 16th and 17th centuries, made in Germany and Switzerland. There is an unrivalled collection of Italian [[maiolica]] and [[lusterware|lustreware]] from Spain. The collection of Iznik pottery from Turkey is the largest in the world.

The glass collection covers 4000 years of glassmaking, and has over 6000 pieces from Africa, Britain, Europe, America and Asia. The earliest glassware on display comes from Ancient Egypt and continues through the Ancient Roman, Medieval, Renaissance covering areas such as [[Venetian glass]] and [[Bohemian glass]] and more recent periods, including Art Nouveau glass by [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]] and [[Émile Gallé]], the Art Deco style is represented by several examples by René Lalique. There are many examples of crystal chandeliers, both English,<ref>Mortimer, Martin, ''The English Glass Chandelier'', 2000.</ref> displayed in the British galleries, and foreign – for example, a Venetian one attributed to [[Giuseppe Briati]] and dated to about 1750.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chandelier – Briati, Guiseppe |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1956/chandelier-briati-guiseppe/ |website=V&A}}</ref> The [[stained glass]] collection is possibly the finest in the world, covering the medieval to modern periods, and covering Europe as well as Britain. Several examples of English 16th-century [[heraldic]] glass is displayed in the British Galleries. Many well-known designers of stained glass are represented in the collection including, from the 19th century: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. There is also an example of Frank Lloyd Wright's work in the collection. Notable designers of the 20th-century represented include [[Harry Clarke]], [[John Piper (artist)|John Piper]], [[Patrick Reyntiens]], [[Veronica Whall]] and [[Brian Clarke]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/contentapi/logotron/stained-glass | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121223130632/http://www.vam.ac.uk/contentapi/logotron/stained-glass | url-status = dead | archive-date = 23 December 2012 | title = Stained Glass&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum | publisher = vam.ac.uk | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref>

The main gallery was redesigned in 1994, the glass balustrade on the staircase and mezzanine are the work of [[Danny Lane]], the gallery covering contemporary glass opened in 2004 and the sacred silver and stained-glass gallery in 2005. In this latter gallery stained glass is displayed alongside silverware starting in the 12th century and continuing to the present. Some of the most outstanding stained glass, dated 1243–1248 comes from the [[Sainte-Chapelle]], is displayed along with other examples in the new Medieval & Renaissance galleries. The important 13th-century glass beaker known as the [[Luck of Edenhall]] is also displayed in these galleries. Examples of British stained glass are displayed in the British Galleries. One of the most spectacular works in the collection is [[V&A Rotunda Chandelier|the chandelier]] by [[Dale Chihuly]] in the rotunda at the museum's main entrance.

<gallery>
File:Urbino Dish with childbirth scene VA C2223-1910 img01.jpg|[[Maiolica]] dish with a childbirth scene, [[Urbino]], {{circa|1546}}
File:Delft Flower pyramid c1690 VA C19-1982.jpg|Flower pyramid, [[Delft]], {{circa|1695}}
File:Meissen Billy Goat (by Kaendler) VA C111-1932.jpg|Porcelain figure of a goat, by [[Johann Joachim Kändler|J. J. Kaendler]], [[Meissen porcelain|Meissen]], {{circa|1732}}
File:BLW Plant Pot.jpg|Jardinière (plant pot), [[Vincennes porcelain]], France; 1750–53
File:Luck of Edenhall VandA C.1toB-1959.jpg|The [[Luck of Edenhall]], glass beaker, Syria, 13th century
File:London-Victoria and Albert Museum-Stained glass-04.jpg|Stained glass panel, depicting Christ's resurrection, Germany, {{circa|1540–42}}
</gallery>

===Contemporary===
These galleries are dedicated to temporary exhibits showcasing both trends from recent decades and the latest in design and fashion.

===Design 1900 – Now===
{{Expand section|with=information about the Design 1900 – Now gallery (Room 76)|small=no|date=March 2025}}

===Prints and drawings===
Prints and drawings from the over 750,000 works in the collection can be seen on request at the [[print room]], the "Prints and Drawings study Room"; booking an appointment is necessary.<ref>[https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/study-rooms#prints-and-drawings-study-room V&A "Study Rooms"]. Retrieved 14 November 2016.</ref> The collection of drawings includes over 10,000 British and 2,000 old master works, including works by: [[Albrecht Dürer|Dürer]], [[Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione]], [[Bernardo Buontalenti]], [[Rembrandt]], Antonio Verrio, [[Paul Sandby]], [[John Russell (painter)|John Russell]], [[Angelica Kauffman]], [[John Flaxman]],<ref>Irwin, David, ''John Flaxman 1755–1826: Sculptor, Illustrator, Designer'', 1979.</ref> [[Hugh Douglas Hamilton]], [[Thomas Rowlandson]], [[William Kilburn]], [[Thomas Girtin]], [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]], [[David Wilkie (artist)|David Wilkie]], [[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]], [[Samuel Palmer]], Sir [[Edwin Henry Landseer]], [[Frederic Leighton|Lord Leighton]], Sir [[Luke Fildes|Samuel Luke Fildes]] and [[Aubrey Beardsley]]. Modern British artists represented in the collection include: [[Paul Nash (artist)|Paul Nash]], [[Percy Wyndham Lewis]], [[Eric Gill]], [[Stanley Spencer]], John Piper, [[Robert Priseman]], [[Graham Sutherland]], [[Lucian Freud]] and [[David Hockney]].

The print collection has more than 500,000 objects, covering: posters, greetings cards, bookplates, as well as a comprehensive collection of [[old master print]]s from the Renaissance to the present, including works by Rembrandt, [[William Hogarth]], [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi]], [[Canaletto]], [[Karl Friedrich Schinkel]], [[Henri Matisse]] and Sir [[William Nicholson (artist)|William Nicholson]].

===Fashion===
The costume collection is the most comprehensive in Britain, containing over 14,000 outfits plus accessories, mainly dating from 1600 to the present. Costume sketches, design notebooks, and other works on paper are typically held by the Word and Image department. Because everyday clothing from previous eras has not generally survived, the collection is dominated by fashionable clothes made for special occasions. One of the first significant gifts of the costume came in 1913 when the V&A received the [[Talbot Hughes]] collection containing 1,442 costumes and items as a gift from [[Harrods]] following its display at the nearby department store.

Some of the oldest works in the collection are medieval [[vestments]], especially [[Opus Anglicanum]]. One of the most important pieces in the collection is the wedding suit of [[James II of England]], which is displayed in the British Galleries.

In 1971, [[Cecil Beaton]] curated an exhibition of 1,200 20th-century high-fashion garments and accessories, including gowns worn by leading socialites such as Patricia Lopez-Willshaw,<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117697/evening-ensemble-dress-perou-peru-la-ligne-h/ Evening dress worn by Mme. Arturo Lopez-Willshaw] in the V&A collection. Accessed 19 January 2011</ref> [[Gloria Guinness]]<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O120807/evening-dress/ Evening dress worn by Mrs Loel Guinness] in the V&A collection. Accessed 28 January 2010</ref> and [[Lee Radziwill]],<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72530/evening-dress/ Dress worn by Lee Radziwill] in the V&A collection. Accessed 19 January 2011</ref> and actresses such as [[Audrey Hepburn]]<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138904/evening-dress/ Evening dress worn by Audrey Hepburn] in the collection of the V&A accessed 28 January 2010.</ref> and [[Ruth Ford (actress)|Ruth Ford]].<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O65687/evening-dress-the-skeleton-dress-the-circus/ Schiaparelli dress worn by Ruth Ford] in the collection of the V&A accessed 28 January 2010</ref> After the exhibition, Beaton donated most of the exhibits to the museum in the names of their former owners.

In 1999, V&A began a series of live catwalk events at the museum titled ''Fashion in Motion'' featuring pieces from historically significant fashion collections. The first show featured [[Alexander McQueen]] in June 1999. Since then, the museum has hosted recreations of various designer shows every year including [[Anna Sui]], [[Tristan Webber]], [[Elspeth Gibson]], [[Chunghie Lee]], [[Jean Paul Gaultier]], [[Missoni]], [[Gianfranco Ferré]], [[Christian Lacroix]], [[Kenzo]] and [[Kansai Yamamoto]] amongst others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/f/fashion-in-motion/ |title=Fashion in Motion |date=2016 |website=vam.ac.uk |publisher=The Victoria and Albert Museum |access-date=16 February 2017 }}</ref>

In 2002, the museum acquired the Costiff collection of 178 [[Vivienne Westwood]] costumes. Other famous designers with work in the collection include [[Coco Chanel]], [[Hubert de Givenchy]], [[Christian Dior]], [[Cristóbal Balenciaga]], [[Yves Saint Laurent (designer)|Yves Saint Laurent]], [[Guy Laroche]], [[Irene Galitzine]], [[Mila Schön]], [[Valentino Garavani]], [[Norman Norell]], [[Norman Hartnell]], [[Zandra Rhodes]], [[Hardy Amies]], [[Mary Quant]], [[Christian Lacroix]], [[Jean Muir]] and [[Pierre Cardin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/0-9/1960s-fashion/ |title=1960s Fashion Designers&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=21 October 2010 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> The museum continues to acquire examples of modern fashion to add to the collection.

The V&A runs an ongoing textile and dress conservation programme. For example, in 2008, an important but heavily soiled, distorted and water-damaged 1954 Dior outfit called 'Zemire' was restored to displayable condition for the ''Golden Age of Couture'' exhibition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-56/costume-cleaning-conundrums/ |title=Costume cleaning conundrums |first=Frances|last= Hartog |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=Autumn 2008 |access-date=16 March 2012}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Sackbackgown.jpg|1770s [[sack-back gown]]
File:WLA vanda Wedding Dress ca 1870.jpg|{{circa|1870}} wedding dress
File:1912 evening dress.jpg|1912 [[Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon|Lucile]] evening dress
File:Christian Dior evening gown called "Zémire", Fall-Winter 1954 05.jpg|1954 Dior evening gown called 'Zemire'
File:Court mantua dress at Tullie House Museum A (24).JPG|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Museum |first=Victoria and Albert |title=Mantua {{!}} Unknown {{!}} V&A Explore The Collections |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O137678/ |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections |language=en}}</ref>"Mantua gown made from an ivory silk brocaded in a pattern of stylised flowers and leaves."
</gallery>

The museum has a large collection of shoes; around 2000 pairs from different cultures around the world. The collection shows the chronological progression of shoe height, heel shape and materials, revealing just how many styles we consider to be modern have been in and out of fashion across the centuries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/shoes |title=V&A · Shoes |website=Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref>

===Furniture===
In November 2012, the museum opened its first gallery to be exclusively dedicated to furniture. Prior to this date furniture had been exhibited as part of a greater period context, rather than in isolation to showcase its design and construction merits. Among the designers showcased in the new gallery are [[Ron Arad (industrial designer)|Ron Arad]], [[Rococo Revival|John Henry Belter]], [[Joe Cesare Colombo|Joe Colombo]], [[Eileen Gray]], [[Verner Panton]], [[Gebrüder Thonet|Thonet]], and [[Frank Lloyd Wright]].<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |last=Wainwright |first=Oliver |author-link=Oliver Wainwright |date=27 November 2012 |title=Pull up a chair: inside the V&A's brilliant new furniture gallery |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/27/v-and-a-new-furniture-gallery |access-date=14 December 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stockley |first=Philippa |title=The V&A's new furniture gallery |url=http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property_news/events_and_getaways/victoriaalbertmuseumfurnituregallery.html |access-date=14 December 2012 |newspaper=Evening Standard: Homes and Property |date=29 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117004428/http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property_news/events_and_getaways/victoriaalbertmuseumfurnituregallery.html |archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Arad |first1=Ron |title=Bookworm |date=1993 |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O145097/bookworm-bookshelf-arad-ron/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |last2=Kartell}}</ref>

The furniture collection, while covering Europe and America from the Middle Ages to the present, is predominantly British, dating between 1700 and 1900.<ref>''Western Furniture: 1350 To the Present Day In the Victoria and Albert Museum London'', Christopher Wilk 1996</ref> Many of the finest examples are displayed in the British Galleries, including pieces by Chippendale, Adam, Morris, and Mackintosh.<ref>{{cite web |title=London Museums |url=http://www.londonschool.com/po/experience-london/museums/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220222130/http://www.londonschool.com/po/experience-london/museums/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 February 2011 |publisher=[[London School of Economics]] |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref> One of the oldest objects is a chair leg from [[Middle Egypt]] dated to 200-395AD.<ref name=guardian/><ref>{{cite web |title=Leg from a stool or chair |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O321535/leg-from-a-unknown/ |publisher=V&A Collections Online |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref>

The Furniture and Woodwork collection also includes complete rooms, musical instruments, and clocks. Among the rooms owned by the museum are the Boudoir of Madame de Sévilly (Paris, 1781–82) by [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]], with painted panelling by [[Jean Simeon Rousseau de la Rottière]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/rococo-and-neo-classicism,-europe-1700-1800,-room-5,-level-0/ |title=Image&nbsp;– V&A |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=21 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812082301/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/rococo-and-neo-classicism,-europe-1700-1800,-room-5,-level-0/ |archive-date=12 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Frank Lloyd Wright's Kaufmann Office, designed and constructed between 1934 and 1937 for the owner of a Pittsburgh department store.<ref>Wilk, Christopher, ''Frank Lloyd Wright: The Kaufmann Office'', 1993.</ref>

The collection includes pieces by William Kent, [[Henry Flitcroft]], [[Matthias Lock]], [[James Stuart (1713–1788)|James Stuart]], [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]], John Gillow, James Wyatt, [[Thomas Hopper (architect)|Thomas Hopper]], [[Charles Heathcote Tatham]], Pugin, [[William Burges]], [[Charles Voysey (architect)|Charles Voysey]], [[Charles Robert Ashbee]], [[Baillie Scott]], Edwin Lutyens, [[Edward Maufe]], [[Wells Coates]] and [[Robin Day (designer)|Robin Day]]. The museum also hosts the national collection of wallpaper, which is looked after by the Prints, Drawings and Paintings department.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Coates |first1=Wells OBE |title=Desk |date=1933 |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O129263/desk-coates-wells-obe/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |last2=Pel Limited – Pel Furniture}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Robin Day |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?page=1&page_size=15&q=Robin+Day |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}</ref>

The Soulages collection of Italian and French Renaissance objects was acquired between 1859 and 1865, and includes several [[cassone]]. The John Jones Collection of French 18th-century art and furnishings was left to the museum in 1882, then valued at £250,000. One of the most important pieces in this collection is a [[marquetry]] [[commode]] by the ''[[ébéniste]]'' [[Jean Henri Riesener]] dated c1780. Other signed pieces of furniture in the collection include a [[Desk|bureau]] by [[Jean-François Oeben]], a pair of pedestals with inlaid brass work by [[André Charles Boulle]], a commode by Bernard Vanrisamburgh and a work-table by [[Martin Carlin]]. Other 18th-century ébénistes represented in the museum collection include [[Adam Weisweiler]], [[David Roentgen]], [[Gilles Joubert]] and Pierre Langlois. In 1901, Sir George Donaldson donated several pieces of [[art Nouveau]] furniture to the museum, which he had acquired the previous year at the Paris [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]]. This was criticised at the time, with the result that the museum ceased to collect contemporary pieces and did not do so again until the 1960s. In 1986 the Lady Abingdon collection of French Empire furniture was bequeathed by Mrs T. R. P. Hole.

There are a set of beautiful inlaid doors, dated 1580 from [[Antwerp City Hall]], attributed to [[Hans Vredeman de Vries]]. One of the finest pieces of continental furniture in the collection is the Rococo Augustus Rex Bureau Cabinet dated c1750 from Germany, with especially fine marquetry and [[ormolu]] mounts. One of the grandest pieces of 19th-century furniture is the highly elaborate French Cabinet dated 1861–1867 made by M. Fourdinois, made from ebony inlaid with box, lime, holly, pear, walnut and mahogany woods as well as marble with gilded carvings. Furniture designed by [[Ernest Gimson]], [[Edward William Godwin]], Charles Voysey, [[Adolf Loos]] and [[Otto Wagner]] are among the late 19th-century and early 20th-century examples in the collection. The work of modernists in the collection include [[Le Corbusier]], [[Marcel Breuer]], [[Charles and Ray Eames]], and [[Giò Ponti]].

One of the oldest clocks in the collection is an astronomical clock of 1588 by Francis Nowe. One of the largest is James Markwick the younger's [[longcase clock]] of 1725, nearly 3 metres in height and [[japanned]]. Other clockmakers with work in the collection include: [[Thomas Tompion]], [[Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy]], John Ellicott and William Carpenter.

<gallery>
File:WLA vanda French Commode in Japanese lacquer.jpg|[[Joseph Baumhauer|Baumhauer, Joseph]]—Commode, with panels of Japanese lacquer & vernis martin, French, 1760–65
File:Evelyncabinet.jpg|[[John Evelyn's cabinet|The Evelyn Cabinet]]—Inlaid with panels of Florentine pietre dure; Italy, 1644–46
File:WLA vanda Cabinet on stand.jpg|Cabinet on stand, German, {{circa|1580}}
</gallery>

===Jewellery===
[[File:V&A jewellery gallery.jpg|thumb|upright|Jewellery gallery]]
The museum's jewellery collection, containing over 6000 pieces is one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of jewellery in the world and includes works dating from [[Ancient Egypt]] to the present day, as well as jewellery designs on paper. The museum owns pieces by renowned jewellers [[Pierre Cartier (jeweler)|Cartier]], [[Jean Schlumberger (jewelry designer)|Jean Schlumberger]], [[Peter Carl Fabergé]], [[Andrew Grima]], [[Hemmerle]] and [[René Lalique|Lalique]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/tiaras/study_resource.html |title=Tiaras&nbsp;– V&A Exhibition |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> Other items in the collection include diamond dress ornaments made for [[Catherine the Great]], bracelet clasps once belonging to [[Marie Antoinette]], and the Beauharnais emerald necklace presented by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] to his adopted daughter [[Hortense de Beauharnais]] in 1806.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_511_160/ai_n9483462 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051227112815/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_511_160/ai_n9483462 |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 December 2005 |first=Samson |last=Spanier |publisher=Apollo |title= The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has started work on a new jewellery gallery, that is planned to open in 2008 |date=September 2004}}</ref> The museum also collects international modern jewellery by designers such as [[Gijs Bakker]], [[Onno Boekhoudt]] and [[Wendy Ramshaw]], and African and Asian traditional jewellery. Major bequests include Reverend [[Chauncy Hare Townshend]]'s collection of 154 gems bequeathed in 1869, Lady Cory's 1951 gift of major diamond jewellery from the 18th and 19th centuries, and jewellery scholar [[Joan Evans (art historian)|Dame Joan Evans]]' 1977 gift of more than 800 jewels dating from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century. A new jewellery gallery, funded by William and Judith Bollinger, opened on 24 May 2008.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewel in Its Crown |first=Nina |last=Siegal |publisher=ARTINFO |date=10 May 2008 |url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27358/jewel-in-its-crown/ |access-date=14 May 2008}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Spanish jewellery-Gold and emerald pendant at VAM-01.jpg|Spanish gold and emerald pendant
</gallery>

=== Metalwork ===
[[File:V&A armor.jpg|thumb|left|A finely decorated and fashionable suit of lightweight battle armor. Bavaria, 1570.]]This collection of more than 45,000 objects covers decorative [[ironwork]], both [[wrought iron|wrought]] and [[cast iron|cast]], bronze, silverware, arms and armour, pewter, brassware and [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]]s (including many examples [[Limoges enamel]]). The main iron work gallery was redesigned in 1995.

There are over 10,000 objects made from silver or gold in the collection, the display (about 15 percent of the collection) is divided into secular<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/metalwork/galleries/65/index.html |title=British Silver Pre-1800, Room 65 |publisher=vam.ac.uk Victoria and Albert Museum |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224090635/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/metalwork/galleries/65/index.html |archive-date=24 February 2009 }}</ref> and sacred<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-sacred-silver-collection/ |title=The Sacred Silver Collection&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher= vam.ac.uk |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> covering both Christian ([[Roman Catholic]], [[Anglican]] and [[Greek Orthodox]]) and [[Jewish]] liturgical vessels and other works. The main silver gallery is divided into these areas: British silver pre-1800; British silver 1800 to 1900; modernist to contemporary silver; European silver. The collection includes the earliest known piece of English silver with a dated hallmark, a silver gilt beaker dated 1496–1497.

Silversmiths whose work is represented in the collection include [[Paul Storr]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/news/paul-storr |title=Paul Storr&nbsp;– V&A Blog |first=Tessa|last=Murdoch|publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=2 December 2015 |access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref> (whose Castlereagh Inkstand, dated 1817–1819, is one of his finest works) and [[Paul de Lamerie]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/paul-de-lamerie-objects/ |title=Paul de Lamerie Silver&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref>

The main iron work gallery covers European wrought and cast iron from the medieval period to the early 20th century. The master of wrought ironwork [[Jean Tijou]] is represented by both examples of his work and designs on paper. One of the largest objects is the [[Hereford Screen]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-hereford-screen/ |title=The Hereford Screen&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> weighing nearly 8 tonnes, 10.5 metres high and 11 metres wide, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1862 for the chancel in [[Hereford Cathedral]], from which it was removed in 1967. It was made by Skidmore & Company. Its structure of timber and cast iron is embellished with wrought iron, burnished brass and copper. Much of the copper and ironwork is painted in a wide range of colours. The arches and columns are decorated with polished quartz and panels of mosaic.

One of the rarest works in the collection is the 58&nbsp;cm-high [[Gloucester Candlestick]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-2810 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510203517/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-2810 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 May 2007 |title=Gloucester candlestick |encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> dated to c1110, made from gilt bronze; with highly elaborate and intricate intertwining branches containing small figures and inscriptions, it is a tour de force of bronze casting. Also of importance is the [[Becket Casket]] dated c1180 to contain relics of [[St Thomas Becket]], made from gilt copper, with enamelled scenes of the saint's martyrdom. Another highlight is the 1351 Reichenau Crozier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/metalwork/metalwork_stories/Reichenau_Crozier/index.html |title=The Reichenau Crozier&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128100451/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/metalwork/metalwork_stories/Reichenau_Crozier/index.html |archive-date=28 November 2009 }}</ref> The [[Burghley Nef]], a salt-cellar, French, dated 1527–1528, uses a [[nautilus shell]] to form the hull of a vessel, which rests on the tail of a parcelgilt mermaid, who rests on a hexagonal gilt plinth on six claw-and-ball feet. Both masts have main and top-sails, and battlemented fighting-tops are made from gold. These items are displayed in the new Medieval & Renaissance galleries.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

<gallery>
File:Becket casket.jpg|[[The Becket Casket]], the most elaborate, the largest and possibly the earliest Becket reliquary, [[Limoges enamel]], {{circa|1180–90}}
File:Burghley nef.jpg|[[The Burghley Nef]]—Silver-gilt [[salt cellar]], France, 1527–28
File:Gloucester candlestick.jpg|The [[Gloucester Candlestick]], a masterpiece of English metalwork, {{circa|1110}}
File:BLW Romanesque Tabernacle.jpg|Tabernacle, [[Cologne]], Germany, {{circa|1180}}
</gallery>

===Musical instruments===
Musical instruments are classified as furniture by the museum,<ref name=ismene>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Ismene |title=The V&A is Wrong Far from closing, the musical gallery should be a palace of sensory pleasures |url=http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/va-wrong |publisher=The Arts Desk.com |access-date=14 December 2012 |date=8 February 2010}}</ref> although Asian instruments are held by their relevant departments.<ref>{{cite web |title=Musical instruments in the South and South East Asian collection |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?category[0]=65&collection[0]=11&narrow=1&offset=0&limit=45 |publisher=V&A |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref>

Among the more important instruments owned by the museum are a violin by [[Antonio Stradivari]] dated 1699, an [[oboe]] that belonged to [[Gioachino Rossini]], and a jewelled [[spinet]] dated 1571 made by Annibale Rossi.<ref>{{cite news |title=Editorial: In praise of&nbsp;... the V&A's instrument collection |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/04/victoria-albert-music-instrument-museum |access-date=14 December 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 February 2010}}</ref> The collection also includes a {{circa}} 1570 [[virginal]] said to have belonged to [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Kottick |first=Edward L. |title=A history of the harpsichord |year=2003 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=Bloomington, IN |isbn=0-253-34166-3 |page=94}}</ref> and late 19th-century pianos designed by Edward Burne-Jones,<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand piano designed by Edward Burne-Jones |date=3 December 1883 |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O86392/grand-piano-burne-jones-edward/ |publisher=V&A |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref> and Baillie Scott.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kopf |first=Silas |title=A marquetry odyssey: historical objects and personal work |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQ6NOM12sygC&pg=PA163 |publisher=Hudson Hills Press |location=Manchester, VT |year=2008 |edition=1st |page=163 |isbn=978-1-55595-287-7}}</ref>

The Musical Instruments gallery closed on 25 February 2010,<ref name=lords>{{cite web |title=Victoria and Albert Museum: House of Lords |url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-02-25a.316.0 |date=25 February 2010|access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref> a decision that was highly controversial.<ref name=ismene/> An [[online petition]] of over 5,100 names on the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliamentary]] website led to [[Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury|Chris Smith]] asking in Parliament about the future of the collection.<ref name=mps>{{cite web |title=To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received or made in relation to the future of the musical instrument collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. [HL2199] |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldhansrd/text/100316w0006.htm |publisher=www.parliament.uk |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref> The answer, from [[Bryan Davies, Baron Davies of Oldham|Bryan Davies]], was that the museum intended to preserve and care for the collection and keep it available to the public, with objects being redistributed to the British Galleries, the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, and the planned new galleries for Furniture and Europe 1600–1800, and that the [[Horniman Museum]] and other institutions were possible candidates for loans of material to ensure that the instruments remained publicly viewable.<ref name=mps/> The Horniman went on to host a joint exhibition with the V&A of musical instruments,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Art of Harmony: The V&A and Horniman Music Collections |url=http://dulwichonview.org.uk/2011/03/18/the-art-of-harmony-the-va-and-horniman-music-collections/ |publisher=Dulwich OnView |access-date=14 December 2012 |first=Bradley|last= Strauchen |author2=Mimi Waitzman |date=18 March 2011}}</ref> and has the loan of 35 instruments from the museum.<ref name=duchen>{{cite web |last=Duchen |first=Jessica |author-link=Jessica Duchen |title=Should Strads be played? |date=27 May 2011 |url=http://jessicamusic.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/should-strads-be-played.html |website=jessicamusic.blogspot|access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Natural Horn (instrument).JPG|A [[natural horn]]
File:Serpent (musical instrument).JPG|A [[serpent (instrument)|serpent]], an ancestor of the [[tuba]]
</gallery>

===Paintings (and miniatures)===
The collection includes about 1130 British and 650 European [[oil painting]]s, 6800 British [[watercolour]]s, [[pastel]]s and 2000 [[Portrait miniature|miniature]]s, for which the museum holds the national collection. Also on loan to the museum, from Her Majesty the Queen [[Elizabeth II]], are the [[Raphael Cartoons]]:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/r/raphael-cartoons/ |title=Raphael Cartoons&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=21 October 2010 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> the seven surviving (there were ten) full-scale designs for tapestries in the [[Sistine Chapel]], of the lives of [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] from the [[Gospel]]s and the [[Acts of the Apostles]]. There is also on display a fresco by [[Pietro Perugino]], dated 1522, from the church of Castello at [[Fontignano]] ([[Perugia]]) which is amongst the painter's last works. One of the largest objects in the collection is the Spanish [[retable]] of St George, {{circa|1400}}, 670 x 486&nbsp;cm, in tempera on wood, consisting of numerous scenes and painted by Andrés Marzal De Sax in [[Valencia]].

19th-century British artists are well represented. John Constable and [[J. M. W. Turner]] are represented by oil paintings, watercolours and drawings. One of the most unusual objects on display is [[Thomas Gainsborough]]'s experimental showbox with its back-lit landscapes, which he painted on glass, which allowed them to be changed like slides. Other landscape painters with works on display include [[Philip James de Loutherbourg]], [[Peter De Wint]] and [[John Ward (painter)|John Ward]].

In 1857 John Sheepshanks donated 233 paintings, mainly by contemporary British artists, and a similar number of drawings to the museum with the intention of forming a 'A National Gallery of British Art', a role since taken on by [[Tate Britain]]; artists represented are [[William Blake]], [[James Barry (painter)|James Barry]], [[Henry Fuseli]], Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Sir David Wilkie, [[William Mulready]], [[William Powell Frith]], [[John Everett Millais|Millais]] and [[Hippolyte Delaroche]]. Although some of Constable's works came to the museum with the Sheepshanks bequest, the majority of the artist's works were donated by his daughter Isabel in 1888,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/school_stdnts/schools_teach/teachers_resources/constable_resource/index.html |title=Constable&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420040450/http://www.vam.ac.uk/school_stdnts/schools_teach/teachers_resources/constable_resource/index.html |archive-date=20 April 2009 }}</ref> including the large number of sketches in oil, the most significant being the 1821 full size oil sketch<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/paintings/stories/Constable_Hay-Wain/index.html |title=Constable's Studies for the Hay-Wain&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726125807/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/paintings/stories/Constable_Hay-Wain/index.html |archive-date=26 July 2009}}</ref> for ''[[The Hay Wain]]''. Other artists with works in the collection include: [[Bernardino Fungai]], [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger]], [[Domenico di Pace Beccafumi]], [[Fioravante Ferramola]], [[Jan Brueghel the Elder]], [[Anthony van Dyck]], [[Ludovico Carracci]], Antonio Verrio, [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]], [[Domenico Tiepolo]], Canaletto, [[Francis Hayman]], [[Pompeo Batoni]], [[Benjamin West]], [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]], [[William Etty]], Sir [[Thomas Lawrence]], [[Francis Danby]], [[Richard Parkes Bonington]] and [[Alphonse Legros]].

Richard Ellison's collection of 100 British watercolours was given by his widow in 1860 and 1873 'to promote the foundation of the National Collection of Water-Color Paintings'. Over 500 British and European oil paintings, watercolours and miniatures and 3000 drawings and prints were bequeathed in 1868–1869 by the clergymen Chauncey Hare Townshend and Alexander Dyce.

Several French paintings entered the collection as part of the 260 paintings and miniatures (not all the works were French, for example [[Carlo Crivelli]]'s ''Virgin and Child'') that formed part of the Jones bequest of 1882 and as such are displayed in the galleries of continental art 1600–1800, including the portrait of [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|François, Duc d'Alençon]] by [[François Clouet]], [[Gaspard Dughet]] and works by [[François Boucher]] including his portrait of [[Madame de Pompadour]] dated 1758, [[Jean François de Troy]], [[Jean-Baptiste Pater]] and their contemporaries.

Another major Victorian benefactor was [[Constantine Alexander Ionides]], who left 82 oil paintings to the museum in 1901, including works by [[Botticelli]], [[Tintoretto]], [[Adriaen Brouwer]], [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot]], [[Gustave Courbet]], [[Eugène Delacroix]], [[Théodore Rousseau]], [[Edgar Degas]], [[Jean-François Millet]], [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]], Edward Burne-Jones, plus watercolours and over a thousand drawings and prints

The Salting Bequest of 1909 included, among other works, watercolours by J. M. W. Turner. Other watercolourists include: [[William Gilpin (priest)|William Gilpin]], Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, [[John Sell Cotman]], Paul Sandby, William Mulready, [[Edward Lear]], [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler]] and [[Paul Cézanne]].

There is a copy of Raphael's ''[[The School of Athens]]'' over 4 metres by 8 metres in size, dated 1755 by [[Anton Raphael Mengs]] on display in the eastern Cast Court.

Miniaturists represented in the collection include [[Jean Bourdichon]], [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], [[Nicholas Hilliard]], [[Isaac Oliver]], [[Peter Oliver (painter)|Peter Oliver]], [[Jean Petitot]], [[Alexander Cooper]], [[Samuel Cooper (painter)|Samuel Cooper]], [[Thomas Flatman]], [[Rosalba Carriera]], [[Christian Friedrich Zincke]], [[George Engleheart]], [[John Smart]], [[Richard Cosway]] and [[William Charles Ross]].

<gallery>
File:Alessandro_Botticelli_Portrait_of_a_Lady_(Smeralda_Brandini.jpg|[[Sandro Botticelli|Botticelli]]—''[[Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Brandini]], 1470-1475''
File:Rembrandt - The Departure of the Shunammite Woman.1.jpg|[[Rembrandt]]—''The Departure of the Shunammite Woman'', {{circa|1640}}
File:Tintoretto - Self-Portrait as a Young Man.jpg|[[Tintoretto]]—''Self-Portrait as a Young Man'', {{circa|1548}}
File:Raphael - The Miraculous Draft of Fishes - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Raphael]]—''The Miraculous Draught of Fishes'', 1515
File:V&A - Raphael, St Paul Preaching in Athens (1515).jpg|[[Raphael]]—''St Paul Preaching in Athens'', 1515
</gallery>

===Photography===
The collection contains more than 500,000 images dating from the advent of photography, the oldest image dating from 1839. The gallery displays a series of changing exhibits and closes between exhibitions to allow full re-display to take place. Already in 1858, when the museum was called the South Kensington Museum, it had the world's first international photographic exhibition.

The collection includes the work of many photographers from [[Fox Talbot]], [[Julia Margaret Cameron]], [[Clementina Maude, Viscountess Hawarden|Viscountess Clementina Hawarden]], [[Gustave Le Gray]], [[Benjamin Brecknell Turner]], [[Frederick Hollyer]], [[Samuel Bourne]], [[Roger Fenton]], [[Man Ray]], [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]], [[Ilse Bing]], [[Bill Brandt]], Cecil Beaton (there are more than 8000 of his [[Negative (photography)|negative]]s), [[Don McCullin]], [[David Bailey (photographer)|David Bailey]], [[Jim Lee (photographer)|Jim Lee]] and [[Helen Chadwick]] to the present day.

One of the more unusual collections is that of [[Eadweard Muybridge]]'s photographs of Animal Locomotion of 1887, this consists of 781 plates. These sequences of photographs taken a fraction of a second apart capture images of different animals and humans performing various actions. There are several of [[John Thomson (photographer)|John Thomson]]'s 1876-7 images of Street Life in London in the collection. The museum also holds [[James Lafayette]]'s society portraits, a collection of more than 600 photographs dating from the late 19th to early 20th centuries and portraying a wide range of society figures of the period, including bishops, generals, society ladies, Indian maharajas, Ethiopian rulers and other foreign leaders, actresses, people posing in their motor cars and a sequence of photographs recording the guests at the famous fancy-dress ball held at [[Devonshire House]] in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.

In 2003 and 2007 Penelope Smail and Kathleen Moffat generously donated [[Curtis Moffat]]'s extensive archive to the museum. He created dynamic abstract photographs, innovative colour still-lives and glamorous society portraits during the 1920s and 1930s. He was also a pivotal figure in Modernist interior design. In Paris during the 1920s, Moffat collaborated with Man Ray, producing portraits and abstract [[photogram]]s or "rayographs".

===Sculpture===
[[File:Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Nettuno e il Tritone (c 1622-1623), Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]]—''[[Neptune and Triton]]'']] [[File:Della Robbia V&A.jpg|thumb|The dead Christ with the Virgin, St. John and St. Mary Magdalene, painted terracotta sculpted by Andrea della Robbia or workshop in 1515.]] [[File:Samson slaying a philistine.jpg|thumb|upright|Giambologna—''[[Samson Slaying a Philistine]]'', {{circa|1562}}]]

The sculpture collection at the V&A is the most comprehensive holding of post-classical European sculpture in the world. There are approximately 22,000 objects<ref name="vam150facts-2011" /> in the collection that cover the period from about 400 AD to 1914. This covers among other periods [[Byzantine]] and [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo Saxon]] ivory sculptures, British, French and Spanish medieval statues and carvings, the Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Victorian and Art Nouveau periods. All uses of sculpture are represented, from tomb and memorial, to portrait, allegorical, religious, mythical, statues for gardens including fountains, as well as architectural decorations. Materials used include, marble, alabaster, stone, terracotta, wood ([[history of wood carving]]), ivory, [[gesso]], plaster, bronze, lead and ceramics.

The collection of Italian, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical sculpture (both original and in cast form) is unequalled outside of Italy. It includes [[Canova]]'s ''[[The Three Graces (Canova)|The Three Graces]]'', which the museum jointly owns with [[National Galleries of Scotland]]. Italian sculptors whose work is held by the museum include: [[Bartolomeo Bon]], [[Bartolomeo Bellano]], [[Luca della Robbia]], [[Giovanni Pisano]], Donatello, [[Agostino di Duccio]], [[Andrea Riccio]], [[Antonio Rossellino]], [[Andrea del Verrocchio]], [[Antonio Lombardo (sculptor)|Antonio Lombardo]], [[Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi]], [[Andrea della Robbia]], [[Michelozzo di Bartolomeo]], Michelangelo (represented by a freehand wax model and casts of his most famous sculptures), [[Jacopo Sansovino]], [[Alessandro Algardi]], [[Antonio Calcagni]], [[Benvenuto Cellini]] ([[Medusa]]'s head dated {{circa|1547}}), [[Agostino Busti]], [[Bartolomeo Ammannati]], [[Giacomo della Porta]], [[Giambologna]] ([[Samson Slaying a Philistine]] {{circa|1562}}, his finest work outside Italy{{according to whom|date=February 2024}}), [[Bernini]] ([[Neptune and Triton]] {{circa|1622–3}}), [[Giovanni Battista Foggini]], Vincenzo Foggini (Samson and the Philistines), [[Massimiliano Soldani Benzi]], [[Antonio Corradini]], [[Andrea Brustolon]], Giovanni Battista Piranesi, [[Innocenzo Spinazzi]], Canova, [[Carlo Marochetti]] and [[Raffaelle Monti]]. 

An unusual sculpture is the ancient Roman statue of Narcissus restored by Valerio Cioli {{circa|1564}} with plaster. There are several small scale bronzes by Donatello such as ''[[The Ascension with Christ giving the Keys to St Peter]]'' and ''[[Lamentation of Christ (Donatello)|Lamentation of Christ]]'', [[Alessandro Vittoria]], [[Tiziano Aspetti]] and [[Francesco Fanelli]] in the collection. The largest work from Italy is the Chancel Chapel from Santa Chiara Florence dated 1493–1500, designed by [[Giuliano da Sangallo]] it is 11.1 metres in height by 5.4 metres square, it includes a grand sculpted tabernacle by Antonio Rossellino and coloured terracotta decoration.<ref>Williamson, Paul (ed.), ''European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum'', 1996.</ref>

[[Rodin]] is represented by more than 20 works in the museum collection, making it one of the largest collections of the sculptor's work outside France; these were given to the museum by the sculptor in 1914, as acknowledgement of Britain's support of France in the [[First World War]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/rodin-at-the-v-and-a/ |title=Rodin at the V&A&nbsp;– Victoria and Albert Museum |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106223754/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/rodin-at-the-v-and-a/ |archive-date=6 November 2011}}</ref> although the statue of [[St John the Baptist]] had been purchased in 1902 by public subscription. Other French sculptors with work in the collection are [[Hubert Le Sueur]], [[François Girardon]], [[Michel Clodion]], [[Jean-Antoine Houdon]], [[Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux]] and [[Jules Dalou]].

There are also several Renaissance works by Northern European sculptors in the collection including work by: [[Veit Stoss]], [[Tilman Riemenschneider]], [[Hendrick de Keyser]], [[Hans Daucher]] and [[Peter Flötner]]. Baroque works from the same area include the work of [[Adriaen de Vries]] and [[Sébastien Slodtz]]. The Spanish sculptors with work in the collection include [[Alonso Berruguete]] and [[Luisa Roldán]] represented by her ''Virgin and Child with St Diego of Alcala'' {{circa|1695}}.

Sculptors, both British and European, who were based in Britain and whose work is in the collection include<ref>Margaret Whinney, ''Sculpture in Britain 1530–1830'', 2nd edition, 1988.</ref> [[Nicholas Stone]], [[Caius Gabriel Cibber]], Grinling Gibbons, [[John Michael Rysbrack]], [[Louis-François Roubiliac]], [[Peter Scheemakers]], Sir Henry Cheere, [[Agostino Carlini]], [[Thomas Banks (sculptor)|Thomas Banks]], [[Joseph Nollekens]], [[Joseph Wilton]], John Flaxman, [[Sir Francis Chantrey]], [[John Gibson (sculptor)|John Gibson]], [[Edward Hodges Baily]], [[Lord Leighton]], Alfred Stevens, [[Thomas Brock]], [[Alfred Gilbert]], [[George Frampton]], and Eric Gill. A sample of some of these sculptors' work is on display in the British Galleries.

With the opening of the Dorothy and [[Michael Hintze]] sculpture galleries in 2006 it was decided to extend the chronology of the works on display up to 1950; this has involved loans by other museums, including Tate Britain, so works by [[Henry Moore]] and [[Jacob Epstein]] along with other of their contemporaries are now on view. These galleries concentrate on works dated between 1600 and 1950 by British sculptors, works by continental sculptors who worked in Britain, and works bought by British patrons from the continental sculptors, such as Canova's ''Theseus and the Minotaur''. The galleries overlooking the garden are arranged by theme, tomb sculpture, portraiture, garden sculpture and mythology. There is also a section that covers late 19th-century and early 20th-century sculpture, which includes work by Rodin and other French sculptors such as Dalou who spent several years in Britain where he taught sculpture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ward-Jackson |first=Philip |date=2014 |title=Jules Dalou's royal commissions from Queen Victoria |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24241785 |journal=The Burlington Magazine |volume=156 |issue=1337 |pages=526–529 |jstor=24241785 |issn=0007-6287}}</ref>

Smaller-scale works are displayed in the Gilbert Bayes gallery, covering medieval especially English [[Nottingham alabaster|alabaster]] sculpture, bronzes, wooden sculptures and has demonstrations of various techniques such as bronze casting using [[lost-wax casting]].

The majority of the Medieval and Renaissance sculpture is displayed in the new Medieval and Renaissance galleries (opened December 2009).

One of the largest objects in the collection is the [[rood loft]] from [[St. John's Cathedral ('s-Hertogenbosch)]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/s-hertogenbosch-choir-screen/ | title = Image&nbsp;– V&A | publisher = vam.ac.uk | date = 14 August 2011 | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref> from the Netherlands, dated 1610–1613 this is as much a work of architecture as sculpture, 10.4 metres wide, 7.8 metres high, the architectural framework is of various coloured marbles including columns, arches and balustrade, against which are statues and [[bas-relief]]s and other carvings in alabaster, the work of sculptor Conrad van Norenberch.

<gallery>
File:Donatello - The Ascension with Christ giving the Keys to St. Peter - 1428-32.jpg|[[Donatello]]—One of the finest surviving examples of Donatello's work in [[rilievo schiacciato]]
File:Andrea della Robbia, The Adoration of the Magi altarpiece (c. 1500–1510), Victoria and Albert Museum, London.jpg|[[Andrea della Robbia]]—''Adoration of the Magi''
File:WLA vanda Claude Michel Cupid and Psyche.jpg|[[Claude Michel|Claude Michel (Clodion)]]—''Cupid and Psyche'', in Terracotta
File:Antonio canova, teseo e il minotauro, 1782.JPG|[[Canova]]—''Theseus''
</gallery>

===Textiles===
The collection of textiles consists of more than 53,000 examples, mainly western European though all populated continents are represented, dating from the 1st century AD to the present, this is the largest such collection in the world. Techniques represented include weaving, printing, [[quilting]] embroidery, [[lace]], [[tapestry]] and carpets. These are classified by technique, countries of origin and date of production. The collections are well represented in these areas: early silks from the Near East, lace, European tapestries and English medieval church embroidery.

The tapestry collection includes a fragment of the [[St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne#Cloth of Saint Gereon|Cloth of St Gereon]], the oldest known surviving European tapestry. A highlight of the collection is the four [[Devonshire Hunting Tapestries]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vandaimages.com/results.asp?cat1=Devonshire+Hunting+Tapestries&X8=17-15 | title = Stock photo and image search by V&A Images | publisher = VandAimages.com | access-date = 21 August 2011 }}</ref> very rare 15th-century tapestries, woven in the Netherlands, depicting the hunting of various animals; not just their age but their size make these unique. Both of the major English centres of tapestry weaving of the 16th and 17th centuries respectively, Sheldon & [[Mortlake]] are represented in the collection by several examples. Also included are tapestries from John Vanderbank's workshop which was the leading English tapestry manufactory in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Some of the finest tapestries are examples from the [[Gobelins Manufactory|Gobelins]] workshop, including a set of 'Jason and the Argonauts' dating from the 1750s. Other continental centres of tapestry weaving with work in the collection include [[Brussels tapestry|Brussels]], [[Tournai]], [[Beauvais tapestry|Beauvais]], [[Strasbourg]] and [[Florence]].

One of the earliest surviving examples of European quilting, the late 14th-century [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[Tristan Quilt]], is also held by the collection. The collection has numerous examples of various types of textiles designed by [[William Morris]],<ref>Linda Parry (ed.), ''William Morris'', 1996, pp.&nbsp;234–95.</ref> including, embroidery, woven fabrics, tapestries (including ''The Forest'' tapestry of 1887), rugs and carpets, as well as pattern books and paper designs. The art deco period is covered by rugs and fabrics designed by [[Marion Dorn]]. From the same period there is a rug designed by [[Serge Chermayeff]].

The collection also includes the [[Oxburgh Hangings]], which were made by [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] and [[Bess of Hardwick]].<ref name="vam.ac.uk oxburgh">{{Cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138524/the-oxburgh-hangings-panel-mary-queen-of/|title=The Oxburgh Hangings &#124; Elizabeth Talbot &#124; Mary Queen of Scots &#124; V&A Explore The Collections|first=Victoria and Albert|last=Museum|website=Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections}}</ref> However, the Oxburgh Hangings are on permanent long-term loan at [[Oxburgh Hall]].<ref name="vam.ac.uk oxburgh"/>

<gallery>
File:MilleFleurTapestry.jpg|[[Mille-fleur|Mille Fleur]] Tapestry, Flemish, 16th-century Flemish
File:Boar and Bear Hunt.jpg|[[Devonshire Hunting Tapestries]], Detail of the Boar and Bear Hunt, Netherlands, mid-15th century
File:Azerbaijani carpet "Barda" (First variant - "Chelebi") in the Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|[[Azerbaijani rugs|Azerbaijani]] carpet "Barda" (First variant - "Chelebi"),<ref>Kerimov L. Azerbaijani carpet. Vol III. Baku, 1983. p. 294 (ill. 112)</ref> Karabakh group. 19th-century
</gallery>

===Theatre and performance===
The V&A holds the national collection of performing arts in the UK, including drama, dance, opera, circus, puppetry, comedy, musical theatre, costume, set design, pantomime, popular music and other forms of live entertainment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/theatre-performance|title=V&A · Theatre & Performance|website=Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref>

[[File:Taylor Swift Songbook Trail Eras Tour film premiere 02.jpg|thumb|upright|Taylor Swift gown by [[Oscar de la Renta]], Prince Consort Gallery, 2024]]
The Theatre & Performance collections were founded in the 1920s when private collector, [[Gabrielle Enthoven]], donated her collection of theatrical memorabilia to the V&A. In 1974 two further independent collections were compiled to form a comprehensive performing arts collection at the V&A.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb71-thm/466|title=British Theatre Museum Association Archive – Archives Hub|website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk}}</ref> The collections were displayed at the [[Theatre Museum]], which operated from Covent Garden until closing in 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5381092.stm|title=London's Theatre Museum to close|date=26 September 2006|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Theatre & Performance galleries opened at South Kensington in March 2009 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/vanda-opens-doors-to-new-theatre-collection_17546.html|title=V&A Opens Doors to New Theatre Collection &#124; WhatsOnStage|website=www.whatsonstage.com|date=17 March 2009 }}</ref> tracing the production process of performance and include a temporary exhibition space. Types of objects displayed include costumes, set models, wigs, prompt books, and posters.

The department holds significant archives documenting current practice and the history of performing arts. These include the English Stage Company at the [[Royal Court Theatre]], [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company|D'Oyly Carte]] and the design collection of the [[Arts Council of Great Britain|Arts Council]]. Notable personal archives include [[Vivien Leigh]], [[Peter Brook]], [[Henry Irving]] and [[Ivor Novello]].

Rock and pop are well represented with the [[Glastonbury Festival]] archive,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/the-glastonbury-festival-archive|title=V&A · The Glastonbury Festival Archive|website=Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref> Harry Hammond photographic collection<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-harry-hammond-photographic-collection|title=V&A · The Harry Hammond photographic collection|website=Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref> and [[Jamie Reid]] archive documenting punk. Costumes include those worn by [[John Lennon]], [[Mick Jagger]], [[Elton John]], [[Adam Ant]], [[Chris Martin]], [[Iggy Pop]], [[Prince (musician)|Prince]], [[Shirley Bassey]] and the stage outfit worn by [[Roger Daltrey]] at [[Woodstock]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O184360/rock-and-pop-unknown/|title=Rock and Pop Costume &#124; Unknown &#124; V&A Explore The Collections|first=|last=|website=Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections|date=3 December 1969 }}</ref>

In 2024, the museum displayed costumes worn by [[Taylor Swift]] over the course of her career. The exhibition, titled ''Taylor Swift Songbook Trail,'' was conceived by theatre designer [[Tom Piper]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roche |first=Daniel Jonas |date=2024-07-03 |title=An exhibition about Taylor Swift designed by Tom Piper is taking over London's V&A Museum |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2024/07/an-exhibition-about-taylor-swift-designed-by-tom-piper-is-taking-over-londons-va-museum/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=The Architect’s Newspaper |language=en-US}}</ref> as an "approximately 1 mile long" [...]  "journey through V&A South Kensington's galleries" with "13 stops".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Snapes |first=Laura |date=2024-07-24 |title='She could have lived in these galleries to create the music': Taylor Swift in among the V&A permanent collection |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/24/victoria-and-albert-museum-taylor-swift-songbook-trail |access-date=2024-09-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Swift-2024">{{Cite web |title=V&A trail: Taylor Swift {{!}} Songbook · V&A |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/va-trail-taylor-swift-songbook |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Creating the Songbook Trail – Talk at V&A South Kensington · V&A |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/event/rl1kmbem5Z/creating-the-songbook-trail |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}</ref> Most of the displays were dispersed throughout the museum, and the "rarely-seen Prince Consort Gallery" was entirely devoted to the exhibition.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Zemler |first=Emily |date=2024-07-27 |title=Inside Taylor Swift's Massive New Costume Exhibit |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-pictures/taylor-swift-costume-exhibit-1235067880/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Seth |first=Radhika |date=2024-07-27 |title=All the Easter Eggs to Look Out For at the Victoria and Albert Museum's New Taylor Swift Exhibition |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/taylor-swift-exhibition-victoria-and-albert-museum-tour |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Völter |first=Helmut |date=September 2016 |title=The Cabinets, Prince Consort's Gallery |url=https://www.goethe.de/resources/files/pdf164/helmutvoelter_cabinets.pdf |website=[[Goethe-Institut]]}}</ref>