The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (2024)

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (1)

Second in our series of London close-ups is the beautiful V&A - here are the seven things to seek out on your next visit to the Victorian treasure trove

Written by Chris Waywell

Deputy Editor, Time Out London

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The is one of the mightyLondon museumsthat always makes it onto our list ofthings to do in west Londonand is famous the world over for its collection of treasures.The British Museum has the Elgin Marbles, the Horniman has the walrus, but what exactly is the defining object at this Victorian treasure trove? Find out below, along with six other cultural blinders from the South Kensington hoard, and go get exploring.

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Seven must-see objects at the V&A

1.Grinling Gibbons, limewood cravat, 1690

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (4)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (5)

Eighteenth-century proto-goth Horace Walpole, when he wasn’t writing fantasy novels and being an MP, was a great champion of out-of-fashion wood-carver Grinling Gibbons. He collected Gibbons’s work, including this incredibly delicate carving of a lace cravat (1690, Room 118a). Bloody great bloke that Walpole obviously was, he would wear it when entertaining foreign dignitaries, convincing them that wooden apparel was de rigueur in the wardrobe of the English gentleman. Hilair!

Head to Room 118a

2.‘Tippoo’s Tiger’, 1793

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (6)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (7)

You can’t really talk about the V&A without mentioning this bizarre piece of Indian furniture: a barrel organ in the form of a Western oppressor being mauled by an Eastern tiger. Turn the crank, and the victim’s arm flails up and down, as the device emits wailing noises. Made.com is really missing a trick. Ironically (ie very unfortunately for the Indian sultan who owned it), the piece was looted by the British Army in 1799, and shipped to England, where it immediately became a favourite attraction at the Indian Museum, which later became part of the V&A. Now it’s the most famous exhibit in the collection: its Elgin Marbles. Which is very strange.

Find it in Room 41

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3.3D-printed gun, 2013

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (8)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (9)

Props are due to the V&A for not resting on its laurels: the institution continues to add to its collection, and doesn’t hang about waiting for the cultural significance of objects to become retrospectively apparent. Its Rapid Response Collecting gallery displays newsworthy items from the immediate past. Currently it includes the Ikea ‘Luftsig’ soft toy wolf, which became a symbol of protest in Hong Kong after a demonstrator threw one at leader CY Leung in 2013, and this ‘wiki-weapon’: a single-shot handgun that can be downloaded and created with a 3D printer. The brainchild of Texan law student Cody Wilson (yeah, thanks for that mate, didn’t fancy doing conveyancing that week?), the weapon represents a watershed moment in gun-control, though, to be honest, it’s so ugly that your average gangster wouldn’t be seen dead with it.

Head to Room 74a

4.‘The Great Exhibition Building’, Joseph Paxton, 1850

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (10)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (11)

Fag packets didn’t exist in the 1850s, but if they had, the architect of the Crystal Palace, Joseph Paxton, would surely have planned his design on one. This rapid sketch was his first stab at the building which would house the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was immediately commissioned (via the attached telegram, sent, for some reason, to his wife). The exhibition saw the start of what would become the V&A: manufacturing and domestic design displayed alongside high art. Also in the museum is a proposal to dismantle Paxton’s temporary glasshouse and reconstruct it as a terrifying 1,000-feet high tower. Instead they rebuilt it in Norwood, thus creating – rather than a skyscraper – gentrification.

Head to Room 122f

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5. ‘Millennium Bridge’, Bettina Dittlmann, 2005

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (12)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (13)

The Jewellery Gallery at the V&A is pretty space-age compared to the rest of the collection: glittering vitrines of bling from pre-history to the present day. It’s not all shiny-shiny, though. This necklace was made by German jeweller Bettina Dittlmann, when she was running a masterclass at the Royal College of Art. Walking beside the Thames, she collected the broken stems of clay pipes discarded by generations of sailors and dock workers. A nice London story. An ambiguous gifting idea: Happy anniversary, darling, I got you a necklace made of fag butts.

See it in Room 91

6.‘Bashaw, the Faithful Friend of Man’, Matthew Cotes Wyatt, 1832-34

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (14)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (15)

If the V&A teaches us anything, it’s that there’s no accounting for taste. This magnificent-slash-appalling sculpture is one of two doughty Newfoundlands on display in the museum (the other is in a portrait by Landseer). High Victorian taste, with its heavy decoration and even heavier moralising, can seem kitschy and remote, but it’s undeniably intriguing. The critic John Ruskin was scathing about Wyatt’s work, but my theory is that is because it scared him sexually. The snake is Ruskin’s little chap, and the hairy monster treading on it suggested to him his wife’s pubes, of which he was notoriously terrified.

Find it in Room 120

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7.‘Buildings on Rising Ground Near Hampstead’, John Constable, 1821

The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (16)
The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (17)

If the more crowded galleries of the V&A get a bit much, visit the art collection. There are some real gems among all the amusing-ish Victorian genre paintings. Especially great are some off-the-cuff oil sketches by John Constable, including studies of clouds and plants, and this hard-to-recognise view of Hampstead Heath from about 1820, when NW3 was in the countryside, and popular with Londoners troubled by the nasty urban maladies of the day. It’s a preparatory study for a work that’s now in Tate Britain, but this is the fresher and more immediate piece of painterly brilliance.

See it in Room 88

Discover the best of London's museums

The wonders of London's museums
  • Things to do
  • Cultural centres

London is packed with top attractionsandmuseums, but once you've decided which cultural hotspot to explore, where do you start? By reading our guide to the seven essential things to see at some of London's best institutions.

And more wonders across the capital

101 things to do in London
  • Things to do
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      The seven wonders of the V&A - seven best objects in the V&A museum (2024)

      FAQs

      What is the most famous thing in V&A? ›

      Tipu's Tiger has long been one of the V&A's most popular exhibits. The wooden model of a tiger attacking a European was made for Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore in India, in the 1790s. A mechanical organ inside the figure imitates the growling of the tiger and the man's moans.

      How many objects are in the V&A? ›

      Victoria and Albert Museum
      Logo introduced in 1989
      The museum's main entrance
      Coordinates51°29′47″N 00°10′19″W
      TypeArt museum
      Collection size2,278,183 items in 145 galleries
      9 more rows

      What does the V&A stand for? ›

      Name. The V&A Waterfront (Victoria and Alfred Waterfront) is named after Prince Alfred and Queen Victoria, members of the Royal Family of Britain when Cape Town was part of the Cape Colony. Alfred, while serving in the British Royal Navy, visited Cape Town and ordered construction of a new harbour for the colony.

      What not to miss at V and a museum? ›

      V&A trail: Collection highlights
      • Stop 1: Cybele by Rodin, about 1904 – 05. ...
      • Stop 2: Evening coat by Elsa Schiaparelli and Jean Cocteau, 1937. ...
      • Stop 3: Betel nut container, 1780 – 1885. ...
      • Stop 4: Robe de chambre, 1690 – 1720. ...
      • Stop 5: Samson Slaying a Philistine by Giambologna, 1560 – 62. ...
      • Stop 6: The Sanchi Tope, 1870 – 74.

      What is the difference between the V&A and the British Museum? ›

      The British Museum has always aimed to use its collection of objects to outline and exlain the cultural history of the world. The V&A's remit is to display and explain the decorative arts. There is obviously a huge overlap between these and it is a matter of chance to some extent as to which collection are where.

      What is the most famous thing in Cape Town? ›

      Top Attractions in Cape Town Central
      • Table Mountain Aerial Cableway. 17,420. Trams. ...
      • Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. 14,486. Marinas. ...
      • Lion's Head. 4,357. Mountains. ...
      • Cape Point Nature Reserve. 9,111. Nature & Wildlife Areas. ...
      • Two Oceans Aquarium. 5,348. Aquariums. ...
      • Signal Hill. 3,893. ...
      • Cape Town Diamond Museum. 900. ...
      • Clifton Beaches. 1,894.

      Which is bigger V&A or British museum? ›

      Victoria & Albert Museum

      Though its collection isn't as large as the British Museum — a paltry 4.5 million objects, pah — the V&A has more on permanent display. Whereas the British Museum has around 80,000 objects on show, its Kensington cousin flaunts 1,197,637 (and almost the same again in books and periodicals).

      Is V&A FREE? ›

      Do I need to buy or book a ticket to enter the museums? No, entry to V&A South Kensington and Young V&A is free and you don't need to book a ticket. There may be a charge for temporary exhibitions. Discover what's on and book online.

      Who funds the V&A? ›

      The Fund is provided through Arts Council England Lottery Funding and has been managed by the V&A since 1881.

      Is V&A worth visiting? ›

      The V&A Museum in South Kensington is a magical place. It is so vast, so full of treasures, so educational. There is a surprise around every corner, no wonder it is classed as one of the best Museum experiences in the world.

      What is the most popular V&A exhibition? ›

      The most comprehensive exhibition ever staged in the UK on the House of Dior closed on September 1 and the V&A has confirmed that the blockbuster show was seen by 594,994 visitors, 100,000 more than the Alexander McQueen exhibition, which reached 493,043 visitors, to make it the “most visited” exhibition in the ...

      How long do you need in the V&A museum? ›

      You could easily spend an entire day exploring the V&A's vast collection of galleries. Enjoy lunch or afternoon tea in the V&A cafe or dine in the Instagram-worthy surroundings of the Gamble, Poynter and Morris rooms.

      What is special about the V&A Waterfront? ›

      The V&A Waterfront is an iconic mixed-use destination located in the oldest working harbour in the Southern Hemisphere. With Table Mountain as its backdrop, the 123-hectare neighbourhood sits within the beautiful city of Cape Town, welcoming millions of people from all over the continent and the rest of the world.

      What are the most famous items in the British Museum? ›

      The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum

      You may have heard of it. Thanks to it, modern humans were able to unlock ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Pretty important, then. So, it's no surprise that it's the most visited exhibit in the museum.

      What three things is the British Museum dedicated to? ›

      The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London.

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