Description
Book SynopsisIn this intriguing insight into the work and history of a museum, V&A director and historian Dr Tristram Hunt brings together ten renowned V&A curators to tell the stories behind ten of their most treasured objects. 'Tipu's Tiger' (an almost life-size wooden semi-automaton mauling a European soldier), the 'Great Bed of Ware' (an Elizabethan bed for 8 people) and a Shakespeare First Folio are among the featured highlights whose route to the V&A collections are entertainingly revealed. Through these stories, this insightful history of museum curation - a world of careful study and sometimes remarkable fortuity - shows how the priorities of a museum are shaped and change over time. Published to explore in more depth some of the stories featured in the BBC six part series Secrets of the Museum.
Trade Review'...full of fascinating, if occasionally tragic and controversial, tales of acquisitions.' Ciara Dossett, Daily Mail, 6th February 2020
Table of ContentsThe Lives of the Objects, Tristram Hunt / Copy of Trajan's Column, Rebecca Knott / The Raphael Cartoons, Ana Debenedetti / Tipu's Tiger, Susan Stronge / First Folio, Geoffrey Marsh / The Rodin Gift, Alicia Robinson / The Great Bed of Ware, Nick Humphrey / Fold-up Chair, Johanna Agerman Ross / Evening Ensemble, Sonnett Stanfill / Rangoon: Signal Pagoda, Martin Barnes / Robin Hood Gardens, Christopher Turner
