The V&A in London - which houses one of the quirkiest collections in the world - has a vast new emporium devoted to design. Charity Crewe searches for treasure
Museum shops, anywhere in the world, generally provide rich hunting ground for unusual gifts and quirky flashes of originality for the home - a welcome respite from the same-old- same-old stuff to be found increasingly in shopping centres all over the country. The shop at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is one of the best of the genre, and it has just been redesigned, repositioned and stocked with contemporary as well as period reproductions, and is well worth a visit the next time you find yourself in Knightsbridge.
To mark the opening of the new shop and to celebrate links between the museum's collection and contemporary design, the V&A commissioned 18 artists and craftspeople to create pieces inspired by the museum's vast treasure trove. It's called the Cherry on the Cake collection, and includes pieces by bag designer Bill Amberg, textile designer Neisha Crosland, milliner Cozmo Jenks and jewellers Tatty Divine. These one-off commissions sit alongside more than 2,000 other bits of ceramics, furniture, clothes and whatnot sourced from all over the world.
The shop is cleverly designed by architect Eva Jiricna to look like just another room in the museum, with long glass cabinets displaying an array of beautiful objects. One of the first things you might notice is Canvas, a textile picture by Northern Irish textile artist Laura McCafferty. McCafferty has created 25 of these limited-edition pictures of museum-goers waiting at a ticket counter - all individually hand-stitched and on sale for £300 (€435). Tatty Devine has created a sizeable Perspex necklaces in the shape of chandeliers and dripping in Swarovski crystals (£125). The artist Daisy de Villeneuve, who has previously collaborated with Nike and Top Shop, was inspired by the V&A's portrait miniature of Queen Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hilliard to design a funky T-shirt featuring the Virgin Queen, also covered in Swarovski crystals (£40). Under the influence of the Victorian Gothic, graphic designer Clifford Richards created a witty and very colourful object called the "Pop-Puguin" clock. It's a bargain at £25.
These items may be the cherry on the cake of the V&A shop collection, but the rest of the cake is pretty good, too. I coveted a pair of pink leather gloves with white buttons (£38) and was tempted by the Cutler & Gross vintage sunglasses (£66). The jewellery is designed to suit all pockets, and includes Grainne Morton's charm bracelet made of silver-backed buttons (£355) and a pair of gypsy hoop earrings with mother-of-pearl sequins (£12).
There is a fine selection of novel gifts too: a marabou hat-pin (£8); a set of six blackbird-shaped clothes pegs (£6); a bag made from tape measures (£70) and a mini, cow-shaped milk jug (£16). For big spenders, the stunning Eva Zeisel tea set is £3,950. u
Many items can be found on the V&A shop website: www.vandashop.com. Mail order calls to 00-44-207-9422696. Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7, 00-44-207-9422000.