November 2008

Explore the Apollo archive

Look back over two vibrant years of Apollo: browse every issue from January 2006 to the present day.

After four years’ closure, the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Jewellery Gallery has been remodelled at a cost of £7m, donated by William and Judith Bollinger. One awaited the reopening with some trepidation. Since jewellery was made to be worn, not crammed into glass showcases, how could thousands of pieces dating from ancient Egypt to the present, varying from the intrinsically worthless to the immensely valuable, possibly be shown so as to please the eye and engage the mind? Besides, instead of precedents to follow, there were only examples of how not to do it. The previous installation was a disappointment, that of the British Museum leaves much to be desired, and even the French do not show the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs to best advantage.

However, on entering the sleek new interior created by the architect Eva Jiricna on two levels from the former huddle of three rooms, one is immediately drawn towards the warm colour and glow of the superb gems bequeathed by the Revd Chauncy Hare Townsend, poet and connoisseur of the rare and the beautiful. Next, the imagination is stirred by the massive gold Shannongrove Gorget, symbolic of Bronze Age grandeur. Enshrined on its own, it is the first of the anthology of major pieces separated from the main arrangement by being shown in a free-standing showcase curving smoothly down the centre of the gallery (Fig. 1). Here is the best of every period: medieval love brooches; the majestic Heneage portrait of Queen Elizabeth (Fig. 2); court jewels from Paris and St Petersburg associated with Catherine II and the Empress Joséphine; a bouquet of quivering diamond flowers almost 30 cm long; a transparent enamel orchid designed for the hair by Philippe Wolfers, leader of the art nouveau movement in Brussels; and a characteristically chic ‘tutti-frutti’ bandeau made by Cartier for the future Countess Mountbatten of Burma in 1928 (Fig. 3).

This inspired arrangement, which sets the standard of quality, is complemented by the intelligent exhibition presented on both walls. In these well-lit cases, behind non-reflective glass, the jewels are set out in strict chronological order, and within that framework are grouped into logically connected categories – decorative, devotional, memorial, talismanic, political, and so on. This coherence continues in the floor above, where on one side the array of gold boxes, watches and objets d’art demonstrates the fine craftsmanship of the enamellers and engravers of the past. In contrast to this high-status luxury, aligned opposite is a comprehensive collection of modest regional jewellery from all over Europe, from Iceland to Italy.

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