Editing Victoria and Albert Museum (section)

=== 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>