The original gallery of the Victoria & Albert museum originally consisted of three small galleries. However, May 24 the opening of the new jewellery gallery, named after William and Judith Bollinger, and designed by Eva Jiricna Architects.
Entering it is like entering another world. You leave the Victorian surroundings of the main gallery and enter a jewellery box; one that is matt black, shiny chrome and sparkling glass. The jewellery collection is displayed in vitrines on the perimeters of the ‘box’, highlighted by subdued lighting.
This could be a problem for a student wanting to make notes but the clever, new design has provided well-lit seating areas in the centre of the ‘box’, incorporated into a series of vitrines that are disconnected from – but not unconnected with – the main display.
These ‘floating’ display cases are in the form of semi-scrolls that link the two seating areas, the four multimedia stations and a spiral staircase that leads to the upper part of the ‘box’. Upstairs are jewelled swords, enamelled pillboxes and ornate watches.
The vitrines downstairs display an entire retrospective on the history of jewellery. At the gallery’s entrance, are cases subtitled 1500 BC, 900 AD, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1850…right down to the present day. 1900 contains wonderful Art Nouveau-esque pieces while in 1920 we see the influence of Art Deco.
The dated vitrines continue to year 2000, followed by a selection of cases dedicated to the making of jewellery. Altogether, there are over 3500 pieces on display, too numerous to catalogue in detail here. If forced to select certain pieces from the myriad of brooches and necklaces, bracelets, hatpins and bandeaus, my choices are the following.
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Manchester Tiara French, 1903 Designed by Cartier Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2007 Photo: Victoria and Albert Museum. |
The Manchester Tiara was made in 1903 and is a spectacular example of the diamond-studded, garland style that dominated jewellery design from 1895 to 1915. It was designed by Cartier and worn by Conseulo, Duchess of Manchester, a prominent American heiress who married into British nobility.
Sons of Eos is a brooch designed by Georges Braque and made by Heger de Lowenfeld in France in 1963, of gold, platinum, lapis lazuli and diamonds. Eos was the goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology. Three birds in flight represent her sons Hesperus, Phaeton and Phosphorus; one blue, one gold and studded with diamonds. This marriage of myth and modernity is simple, elegant and beautiful – like the gallery itself. Do go and see it.
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