Pearls Exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum

One of my earliest memories of the V&A is the incredible 2002 Tiaras exhibition. Darkened rooms housed glittering jewels, from your classic diamonds to your exotic rubies and emeralds. That display has always stuck with me, and with that in mind, I was sure their Pearls exhibition wasn’t going to disappoint.

The exhibition starts with some stunning x-ray prints of pearls, explaining exactly how they are formed. In case you didn’t know, the theory that a pearl is made from a grain of sand is actually a myth. Natural saltwater pearls are formed with the intrusion of a parasite (usually a worm or a piece of sponge) which produces nacre (or mother-of-pearl) in the shell’s mantle. The parasite will then form a cyst over which the nacre grows. Pearls have been sought after and admired for thousands of years, and would have once been a key feature in cabinets of curiosities all over the world. The exhibition has some of these itself, and therefore introduces its visitors to a whole range of varieties of pearl from all kinds of shells. My favourites had to be the Horse Conch pearl, which was deep red in colour, and used later in the exhibition to make some incredible jewellery, and the orange Indian Volute pearl, the likes of which I had never seen before.

One fascinating part of the exhibition took us through the process of fishing for pearls. An ancient process from Qatar, which came to an end in the mid 20^th Century, involved divers collecting the pearls, weighing them using agate weights, and then sorting them into sizes using specially designed sieves. After gaining a full understanding of the growth of a pearl, it was time to see some jaw-dropping jewellery.

The displays range from ancient to modern, using both traditional seawater pearls, and beautiful baroque pearls too (this is a non-spherical pearl, the irregular shape often being incorporated into the design of the jewellery). Early on we see the Barbor Jewel. According to the family, the jewel was made for William Barbor, to commemorate his escape from the stake in 1558, due to the accession of Elizabeth I. However, the enamelling on the jewel has been dated to 1615-25… Still, it’s a great story, and a gorgeous piece. Other traditional, though later jewellery includes Queen Victoria’s Lover’s Eye, her pocket watch, and Princess Alexandra’s 1863 Dagmar Necklace, made from 118 pearls and 2,000 diamonds. It can be worn as one, or split up into earrings too.

As for the Baroque pearl pieces - wow. In particular, I should really mention the Forget-Me-Not Tiara, The Hope Pearl (if one of world's largest pearls isn't enough, why not stick a crown on top of it?) and the magnificent Pearl of Asia. At 76mm high, this pearl IS the largest in the world, and the piece includes jadeite and a HUGE pink sapphire. If that wasn't enough, it was also a present from Indian Emperor Shah Jahan (Mr Taj Mahal) to his wife, and then passed through Persia to China's Emperor Ch'ien-lung, who was buried with it in 1799! Luckily, in a peculiar sort of way, grave robbers stole the Pearl of Asia in 1900, it then resurfaced in Hong Kong, and eventually settled in a private collection in Paris.

At the end of the exhibition visitors are introduced to Mikimoto, and the process of cultured pearls. One staggering piece of jewellery from Mikimoto is the "Journey of 5000 Pearls", a scarf which was produced in 2005 and took years to sort pearls of the exact same size, colour, lustre and surface perfection. Other examples of modern pearl jewellery were Yoko's stunning Girandola, Mezza Luna, Carnevale and Amalfi series. I loved the incorporation of colour gradation, again, a technique I have never seen before.

If my image links simply aren't enough, get yourself down to the V&A to see the Pearl exhibition before it closes on the 19th. Best part is, there's lots on offer in the shop for you to take home with you (sadly, the Pearl of Asia will have to stay where it is). 

Sir Roy Strong at the V&A

As a friend of the Victoria and Albert Museum, I've attended some amazing talks over the years - Mary Quant, Zaha Hadid, Wayne Hemmingway, Celia Birtwell, Grayson Perry, Rankin, Matthew Williamson - the list goes on. Last night, I went to see Sir Roy Strong.

I don't think Roy Strong is very well known amongst my generation, and I have to admit, I didn't know who he was before we booked the tickets. But we all should, especially living in London and working in the arts.

Last night, Strong talked about his new book, Self-Portrait As A Young Man, in which he relays his childhood memories and what laid the foundations for an incredible career and life.

In a letter to his head of sixth form in 1953, Strong remarked that one day he would like to become Director of somewhere like the National Portrait Gallery, or head of a department at the Victoria and Albert museum - in fact, he went on to supersede these expectations, being Director of the former from 1967-1973, and Director of the latter from 1973-1987 (he was actually the youngest ever Director of them both being only 32 then 38 years old).

Between that letter and the NPG he gained a first class honours degree in History at Queen Mary College, University of London and then later went on to achieve a PhD. Being well-educated in this way means that he is a wonderful speaker. He spoke enthusiastically and gracefully, and with huge amounts of detail when relaying facts or anecdotes.

During the talk, however, he became quite cross when talking about his childhood, saying that despite what critics have said over the years, he did not come from a privileged background;  his father had 5 pounds a week to raise a family of 3 children, and after the war and his brothers' return from evacuation, he said the house was very divided (the two boys hardly recognising their mother, and longing to be back in the country).

Luckily for him, and for us, Strong attended a grammar school filled with kind and inspiring teachers, who he still remembers by name. Seeing his passion and talent, he was taught extra Latin classes, told about shows they saw up in London, and he broke down momentarily when remembering a teacher who, knowing he loved the portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, came up to the library of the British Museum and copied out in long hand the only catalogue in existence, just for him. Now, of course, the library will have Strong's to add to their collection.

You couldn't say that Sir Roy Strong was a modest man, as he remarked often how he changed both museums for the better. He's been hailed as changing museum exhibitions into theatre, which he admits to quite happily.

I agreed with so much of what Strong had to say (except when he was rude about Lowry and Tracey Emin, that wasn't quite right ;) ). He spoke of the photographer being just as important as any other artist, which was the motivation for his defining exhibition of Cecil Beaton's 600 portraits in 1968. He relayed the importance of the arts and education, as well as his sadness at the loss of respect in today's culture. He also talked about luck playing a huge role in life, and how being in the right place at the right time is incredibly important (something I believe in hugely in my early stages in the working world!). The talk stopped just as we were about to get to the good bits, assuming most of the audience already knew it all already. Unfortunately I was the exception here, but so look forward to doing my own research and learning more about Sir Roy.