Editing Victoria and Albert Museum (section)

===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>