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<\/a><\/p>\nAssembled over decades by Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert, the collection was previously shown at Somerset House before moving to the V&A on permanent loan. Until recently, it sat in what was essentially a long passageway \u2014 easy to pass through, and just as easy to overlook.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t even a named gallery \u2013 just a space on the V&A map<\/a> for \u201cGold, Silver and Mosaics\u201d.<\/p>\n That\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n By absorbing some former offices \u2014 the East Asia Offices that once ran alongside the corridor \u2014 the museum has nearly doubled the gallery\u2019s size. What was once a linear route is now broken up with side rooms and alcoves that invite you to pause, explore and double back, turning it into a destination rather than a thoroughfare.<\/p>\n After a two-year refurbishment, and without any announcement, the V&A quietly reopened the galleries a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n At first glance, the collection can feel eclectic, even a little random. But as you spend time with it, a pattern emerges. The Gilberts were drawn to objects with stories \u2013 often linked to notable former owners \u2013 and to pieces that play visual tricks.<\/p>\n So what looks like a painting might turn out to be a mosaic. A decorative bird is actually a cup. A seemingly painted table reveals itself, on closer inspection, to be covered in glass micro-mosaic. An antique cabinet is \u201cpainted\u201d not with pigment, but with intricate stone commesso.<\/p>\n This fascination with miniature craftsmanship runs throughout the displays, often paired with a touch of social history through illustrious \u2013 and at times very dodgy \u2013 provenance. And while many objects are small, the collection isn\u2019t exclusively so \u2013 the gleaming silver swan, made in 1985 for Gilbert\u2019s Los Angeles home, is an unmistakable centrepiece, requiring four British craftsmen to create.<\/p>\n The reworked gallery is now arranged into themed zones \u2014 including Silver and Gold, Collecting Stories, Object Stories, Micro Mosaics, Small Boxes and Stone Commesso \u2014 helping to give structure to what might otherwise feel like a cabinet of curiosities.<\/p>\n There are quieter highlights too.<\/p>\n Enamel portraits of Scottish monarchs line one display, while Frederick the Great\u2019s snuffboxes are given pride of place in specially designed cases. Elsewhere, the tiniest objects often prove the most compelling \u2014 intricate boxes and miniature artworks so finely detailed that you find yourself leaning in, trying to work out how they were even made.<\/p>\n Magnifying glasses at some of the cases helps. A lot.<\/p>\n Not everything in the collection has an easy history.<\/p>\n In 2019, it emerged that a 4,500-year-old gold ewer had been illegally exported before being acquired by the Gilberts. It has since been returned to Turkey, with a modern commission now standing in its place \u2014 a reminder that museum collections are not fixed, but evolve as new information comes to light.<\/p>\n More darkly, there are also stories here of Nazi and Soviet looting and how many mid-century collectors were often unaware of the background of the objects they bought.<\/p>\n There is though also a sense of playfulness woven through the displays.<\/p>\n A micro-mosaic landscape doubles as a hidden human profile, while a necklace depicting views of Rome turns the idea of a souvenir into wearable art. Alongside the objects, the gallery also explains the painstaking techniques behind them, adding another layer of appreciation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a thoughtful reinvention.<\/p>\n What was once a space to hurry through while seeking more interesting exhibitions has become a place to linger \u2014 and a collection that might previously have been overlooked now rewards time, curiosity and a closer look.<\/p>\n The Gilbert Galleries<\/a> are in rooms 70 to 72 on the second floor of the V&A Museum<\/a> and are on the Exhibition Road side of the building. It\u2019s free to visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A once-overlooked corridor at the V&A Museum has been transformed into a much larger, more engaging gallery \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-390278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n