Editing Victoria and Albert Museum (section)

=== 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>