Victoria & Albert Museum Desk Diary 2009 Review
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 jewelry collection, taking its inspiration from the V&A’s new Jewelry Gallery that opened in 2008. All kinds of jewels are featured: tiaras, brooches, necklaces, rings and bracelets. Most but not all of the jewelry 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 favorite 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.
Victoria & Albert Museum Desk Diary 2009 Overview
A celebration of the jewels, gems and glamour held in the V&A Museum.
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