Product Description

Since its first acquisition in 1851, the Victoria and Albert Museum's Jewellery collection has grown to become one of the greatest collections in the world with more than 4,000 objects on exhibition. The Victoria and Albert Museum Diary 2009 is a celebration of jewels, gems and glamour and, like the Jewellery gallery, focuses on the last 1000 years of Western jewellery. The pieces are often shown in context with contemporary photographs, advertisements and works of art, as well as jewellery designs and sketches, creating a fascinating insight into the process from inception to finished piece. The Victoria and Albert Museum Diary 2009 is a celebration of jewels, gems and glamour and, like the Jewellery gallery, focuses on the last 1000 years of Western jewellery, but also includes pieces from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. The pieces are often shown in context with contemporary photographs, advertisements and works of art, as well as jewellery designs and sketches, creating a fascinating insight into the process from inception to finished piece. The diary contains national and religious holidays and astronomical information and is published to coincide with the opening of the newly-refurbished Jewellery Gallery in May 2008.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #379768 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Customer Reviews

A stylish diary that draws from the V&A's jewellery collection
The Victoria & Albert museum in London puts out two engagement diaries every year. There is a desk diary and a smaller pocket diary. The desk diary is paperback but the cover is thick and robust and the pages are also good quality stock. Each double page spread covers one week, with a good-sized blank space for each day (the size varies depending on the other illustrations). There are 2009 and 2010 calendars up front, an integrated bookmark, a pocket at the back for storing papers and also couple of blank pages at the end of the diary for notes. There is also a list of forthcoming exhibitions scheduled at the V&A museum in 2009/2010.

Every year the V&A diaries reflect a different theme drawing from the V&A's vast collection: recent themes have included Middle Eastern Art and vintage couture.

The theme for this year's diary is the V&A's jewellery collection, taking its inspiration from the V&A's new Jewellery Gallery that opened in 2008. All kinds of jewellery are featured: tiaras, brooches, necklaces, rings and bracelets. Most but not all of the jewellery dates from the 19th and 20th centuries - other pieces featured include a pendant with a cameo of Catherine of Medici, an enamelled box given by Napoleon Bonaparte to his sister, a locket with a miniature of Elizabeth 1, a pendant worn in Tudor England to protect the bearer from epilepsy. Other pages feature fashion photography by Cecil Beaton and John French or fashion advertisements. My favourite was a stunning Lalique pendant dating from 1898 with the theme of "winter wonderland". Some of the photographs are in black and white (as they would have originally appeared), but every other page is in colour.

This is a classy and attractive desk diary. To me, it is slightly less interesting than some of the other V&A diaries of the past, but I will still enjoy using it throughout the year.