Much About Museums: the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sir John Soane's House Museum--Lunch with Colleague And Haircut in Chelsea

Much About Museums: the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sir John Soane's House Museum--Lunch with Colleague And Haircut in Chelsea

London

Thursday, May 12, 2022

    Today I took a break from the hectic activity of the last couple of days. Both Amy and I had a well-deserved lie-in. I managed to wake up at 7.30, but I have to say that it was difficult. Although I might not have been asleep, I'd have appreciated the opportunity to loll around a bit more. But brekkie beckoned--and so down I went to enjoy another Full English brekkie. And no, I have not yet become jaded by these incredible breakfast buffets with their overwhelming choices. I stuck to croissants with butter and orange marmalade, then moved on to a subdued version of a full and ended with fruit and a strawberry yogurt as I am trying to get in some calcium daily!  

    When I returned to our room, Amy was almost ready to roll--so off we went. She wanted me to give her the Rochelle's Highlights of the Victoria and Albert Museum--so off I trotted with her, past Red Lion Square to Holborn Tube station,. We realized it would be fastest to take the Piccadilly line to South Kensington and walk along the underground passage there that connects directly with Museum Mile. However, as it turned out South Ken station is closed for the spring. Left with no choice, we got off a station later, at Gloucester Road, and simply walked along Cromwell Road from there, past the towering steeples of the Museum of Natural History (Prince Albert's great architectural contribution to the city) and arrived at the Victoria and Albert Museum which might be one of my favorite museums in the whole world. As a receptacle of global decorative arts, it has no comparison with any other place. I have spent countless hours studying its collection and I never leave London without wandering through its endless mileage of fascinating galleries to say hello to my favorite items.

Perusing my Highlights of the V&A with Amy:

        Of course, once we entered the lobby of the museum, just past 10.00 am, I had to point out the Dale Chihuly chandelier that dominates the dome. I also pointed out the place from where he took his inspiration--the original Victorian stained glass on the bow window at the very front--a favorite combination, in its soft yellow, blue and lime green shades, of Prince Albert himself.

    Next, we made a left to see the sculpture of 'Samson Slaying a Phillistine' by Giambologna, which is one of the museum's highlights. Awesome in its power and fluidity of movement.   

    Next, we moved to the Asian section and made our way to the Ardabil Carpet which is one of the largest in the world. Made in Kashan in Persia, it boasts 304 knots per square inch. It is lit up for ten minutes every hour and on the half hour, but we did not get a chance to see its wool knotted detail.

    Next stop: The Raphael Cartoons Gallery to find out about Raphael's connection with Pope Leo X and the Sistine Chapel which led to the creation of a series of cartoons (large paintings) by Raphael for Leo's private house of worship (the Sistine Chapel). These cartoons depict the lives of Saints Peter and Paul (with Jesus, of course, being a primary figure in them). The cartoons were then sent on to a manufacturer of tapestries (almost invariably in Gobelin in Belgium). They would use the cartoons as a guide to begin the weaving process which would then take shape as a mirror image.  The finished tapestries adorn one of the galleries of the Vatican Museum and I have seen them there. However, the original Raphael cartoons were lost until the year 1623 when they were recovered and brought to England. From what I remember, the cartoons are the personal possessions of the Queen who has loaned them indefinitely to the V&A where the special gallery in which they are located makes the perfect place for their display. Of the seven cartoons on display only one is represented with its accompanying tapestry--the Miracle of the Fishes. To know and understand what is happening in this gallery is to immerse oneself directly in the complicated politics of the Renaissance in Italy and to marvel at the way these works have survived and are valued as rare works of art today.

    We then moved on to the British Galleries to see the Great Bed of Ware, probably the largest bed in the world (It can easily accommodate five and members of a family often bedded down together for warmth). A relic of Elizabethan England, this gigantic bed, intricately carved with a stunning headboard and wonderful silk (replicated) hangings to keep off draughts and afford privacy, is a breathtaking work of functional artistry. Shakespeare mentions this bed in his Twelfth Night as his contemporary audiences would have been very familiar with it. It was placed originally in an inn in Hertfordshire in 1596. 

  We moved on to see a sculpture of the composer Handel by Louis Francois Roubillac--an important work that brought us down to the Sculpture Garden. As works move chronologically in this huge space from the ancient to the modern world, we found ourselves at the modern end surrounded by works by Auguste Rodin such as John The Baptist Preaching, The Kiss, etc. We admired Antonio Canova's Theseus Slaying the Minotaur and his exquisite Three Graces before we moved to the far end to climb up the stairs to get to the Jewelry Gallery. Sadly we could not find my favorite little sculpture in the museum--The Age of Innocence by Alfred Drury that portrays Gracie Doncaster, the daughter of one of Drury's friends. And when we asked the guard for help, he was blank! I sometimes wonder at the poor quality of guards that are now in these museums--there was a time when a guard could tell you anything and everything you wanted to know about the museum including the location of every piece and its provenance!

    However, I had forgotten that Amy was still on an empty stomach and since she was hungry, I took her to the finest museums cafes in the whole wide world, barring none--the Proctor, Gamble and Morris Rooms. These large rooms that overlook the beautiful fountain-courtyard of the museum often afforded me the opportunity to rest my feet, grab a sandwich and a hot chocolate in its hallowed surroundings and contemplate the greatness of the artists whose works immortalize them. Here, and on this occasion, Amy picked up a raisin scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam and a large coffee and sat munching it while I used the restroom.

    When she was done, when we had feasted our eyes adequately on the astounding detail of the main room with its ceramic columns, its massive globular chandeliers, its marble fireplace and its stained glass windows that cast softly jeweled shadows over our food, we left. Seriously, no cafe in the world will ever measure up to these on magnificence: one of them is filled with mosaic tiles and another (the Morris Room) is covered with the fabric and textile designs of William Morris of the Arts and Crafts School fo Design with their emphasis on fruit and flowers. 

     Our next port of call was the vast Cast Courts in which plaster casts of some of the finest sculpture in the world stand. They were used as teaching devices in the many arts and crafts schools that dotted the city in the late 19th century or as a way to educate the less-endowed museum-goers of the 19th century on the treasures of the world that lay beyond their pockets or their perusal. And so, in just two humongous rooms you can see ancient sculpture (Trajan's Column from Rome, for instance) to the wonders of the Renaissance: Michelangelo's David from the Academia in Florence and Donatello's David from the Bargello Museum in Florence.  There are facades from the Cathedral at Chartres in France as well as the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti that are on the front of the gates of the Duomo in Florence. For good measure, there is a reproduced painting on the wall by Raphael entitled The School of Athens which is also in the Vatican Museum. Every one of these works functioned as a teaching tool for budding sculptors keen to learn the lessons of carving human anatomy.

    Next, we saw the amazing Jewelry Galleries which are quite simply my favorite galleries in the V&A.  God knows how many hours I have spent in contemplation of the wealth, artistry and craftsmanship displayed in these cases--from the 18th century Chatelaine (my favorite jewelery piece in the museum) to the clutch of exquisite works by Rene Lalique that feature his signature Art Nouveau style and the vast collection of finger rings. Indeed, there are truly precious stones such as diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires as large as hen's eggs (as I have written in my book The Year The World Was Mine) and, for the first time, two lovely little coronets in diamonds and sapphires that were designed specially for Queen Victoria. Amy fell in love with the tiaras and said she would gladly have one of them! Overwhelmed by two whole levels of staggeringly beautiful jewelery, we had to leave as time was of the essence.

    And on to the upper balcony we went to see the Hereford Screen that was designed by George Gilbert Scott--yes, the same man who designed Exeter College Chapel in Oxford. The screen is stupendous and quite spectacular indeed, but its location offers the perfect point from which to take a look at Chihuly's chandelier again and note the manner in which it was inspired by the original soft colors of the museum's stained glass windows.

    Sadly, this was all I could cover. I would have loved to have shown Amy Tipu's Tiger in the South Asian section--the single, most popular item in the museum. It is a life-size music box that was commissioned by Tipu Sultan of Mysore to depict an English soldier being killed by a tiger. As Tipu was known as the Tiger of Mysore, this piece was of special affection to him. I also love the Jeringham Wine Cooler, the largest wine cooler in the world. Also, the twin lions in sterling, the originals of which I have seen in the royal palace in Copenhagen, would also be a splendid inclusion, not to mention all the great work by John Constable whose entire oeuvre was bequeathed to the museum. I have brought my students here in the past to show them Constable's innumerable sketch pads before taking them to the River Stour itself in Suffolk to see Flatford Mill which has been depicted in his most iconic painting The Haywain. And then, of course, I have actually taken them to the National Gallery to look upon the final masterpiece that Constable so marvelously created.  But I suppose we have to leave somethings for another day. 

    We then took a bus down Cromwell Road, past the Brompton Oratory to arrive past Harrod's. We then walked through Harrod's, of course, although we did not stop. Amy was amazed at how empty it was, but she forgot to account for the slap in the face that Covid has rendered to the global economy, plus the fact that it was a week day morning and not a 'sale' time! We took the Tube from Knightsbridge and sailed off to Holborn on the Piccadilly line where we both got off and bid each other goodbye. Amy returned to our hotel to pick up her bag and go off to Mayfair to meet her friends and to spend time with them for the next three days. I was so sorry to see her go, but we'd had the most incredible time and indeed although both of us love London enough to gladly stay here forever, we were grateful for the opportunity that threw us together and enabled us to get some food for thought and appreciation during our time together.

Lunch with an Academic Colleague at Aldwych:   

    After I bid Amy goodbye, I walked briskly along Kingsway for it had turned out to be the perfect spring afternoon. I was headed to the Delaunay Cafe which was the choice of my former colleague Marion who is now a Dean at King's College in London. She had made plans to meet me for lunch at 12. 30 and I was there just a few minutes ahead of schedule. It turned out to be just besides the Waldorf at busy Aldwych, but a more convenient spot could hardly be found.

   When Marion arrived, we had a very affectionate reunion as she is someone of whom I am very fond.We had offices next door to each other when she worked in New York and I would often see her stride purposefully down the hallways as she hurried off to classes or meetings. We had so much to talk about even before we ordered--but order we did: Marion chose a quiche with mushrooms while I chose an Alsace with bacon and onions. I noticed that it was hardly a quiche--rather a very thin-crust pizza with toppings. We also ordered an Heirloom Tomato Salad which was absolutely delicious--those tomatoes are so flavorful and go perfectly with basil and olives in a very mild dressing. 

    Of course, we chatted about our current work and research projects, our homes, family life, future projected plans and the like. Marion is doing something unbelievably interesting--she has founded a whole new discipline that she is calling Attention Studies. It is a way of measuring the impact of electronic devices upon our attention spans. In a deeply interdisciplinary area of studies, she intends to include psychology and the social sciences as she foresees the impact of hand held devices to only grow with the passing of time. As Director of a new Center for Attention Studies, she hopes to hire new faculty and create a syllabus of courses that will follow this new line of inquiry.  I found her ideas fascinating and deeply clairvoyant of where we are headed as a global society. Marion also listened to the kind of work I have been pursuing and was immediate in her suggestion that I join her team of interdisciplinary scholars to asses and grade the undergraduate dissertations of her students at King's. I told her that I would be honored to do so. Let us hope that it does become a concrete and on-going project.   

    It was not long before Marion simply had to take my leave as she had meetings to attend. We had been gabbing for more than an hour and a half and while it was more than just chatter, we put down some worthwhile plans for future collaboration, In fact, Marion has plans to create relationships between King's and India and will definitely be back in touch with me, should they solidify.

Off to Sir John Soanes' Museum:

    Since I was in the vicinity, I decided to pay a re-visit to one of my favorite places in London--Sir John Soane's Museum. So I passed by the London School of Economics and crossed the large square that is Lincoln Inn Field and arrived at the museum. I went through the formalities of entry and found myself in the incredible space that this awesome man created and which is now one of the lesser-known but no less loved spaces in the city.

    So, here's a word about John Soane. A Victorian architect by training, he is responsible for some of the most iconic buildings in the city. Among my own favorites are the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Church of St. John at Bethnal Green and the famous Bank of England, aka the Old Lady of Threadneedle Lane. Early in his career, Soane formed a firm friendship with the painter John Gandhy who partnered with him to create architectural drawings of his home at Lincoln's Inn Field. As Soane grew more renowned in his career, architectural fragments became his obsession and he collected every single scrap on which he could lay his hands. In fact, he instructed every contractor and general city planner involved in any type of construction activity in England to cart off all their structural remnants to him. Thus, he collected every possible column, pedestal, mantlepiece, decorative object, etc. that he could find. When he ran out of space for his collection in his own home, he bought the house next door and when that became too crammed, he bought the house on the other side. And yet, every available square inch of space has been grabbed to accommodate his vast (and I mean massive) collection of architectural fragments from ancient times through to the Gothic and Victorian periods. There are fragments of stone columns from outside Rome (eg, the Tivoli Gardens), others from the Far East. While he seems not to have discriminated at all, there is certainly a method to his madness and signs of his prolific passion are everywhere. 

    What's more, Soane was also a collector of painting and he has a wonderful series of paintings by Hogarth called The Rake's Progress which is concealed in specially designed vaults that open up as if in layers to the absolute wonder of visitors. I have seen these layers on many occasions. Today, the guard opened just one of them after restricting the crowd to no more than eight people. It was indeed as marvelous an experience as I expected because all the furniture and fitments are original to the house and every single one of them is exactly in the same place as they were in the time when Soane lived in the house with his beloved wife whom he loved with a passion and was utterly destroyed when she died. I cannot urge visitors to London enough to go and see this space and I still cannot believe that when I lived in London my home was just a hop, skip and jump away from so many of these amazing treasures.  

Off to the British Library:

    It was time then for me to take a bus and go directly to the British Library so that I could continue perusing some of the material for which I had called.  For the next two hours, I continued my perusal of documents and contemporary magazines that provide accounts of the travels of traveling actors ("players") who, during the last quarter of the 19th century and into the first quarter of the 20th plied the high seas going from one colony to the next with their productions. Indeed, this practice continued all the way to the 1940s and it is fascinating to me to discover which productions they chose, who their audience was and how successful they were as commercial companies during this time.

Headed for a Haircut:

    As I badly needed a haircut and decided to get one in London, I turned to my friend Cynthia who recommended a place called Greema's Beauty Salon at 496 King's Road just past Chelsea and into World's End. I took a bus and gave myself a whole hour to reach the place and then had the misfortune of having all three possible things happen to my No. 15 bus: it stopped for 10 minutes to ease traffic congestion; it stopped for 15 minutes for a change of drivers at Victoria; it became disabled and all passengers had to alight. This happened at Sloane Square. I then jumped into a 22 and off I went down the King's Road until I arrived at the spot. I was embarrassed to be late on my first appointment ever but the hair dresser was very sweet. Her name is Mahi and she is an Iranian from Tehran who has been cutting hair in London for the past ten years although she did it in Tehran for 12 years before then. I told her that my friend Cynthia had recommended her and she was delighted. For the next 40 minutes, she regaled me with chatter as she cut my hair very slowly. I told her that I wanted to go short but she asked me what my preferences were at every turn--which was quite wonderful.   

    When she was done and I had paid her 20 pounds plus a 15% tip, I thanked her profusely and left. I then hopped into a bus going back to Central London but stopped at Marks as I was hungry. On the King's Road, I picked up Belgian chocolate chunk and hazelnut cookies from Marks and then got back on the bus all the way back to my hotel. Needless to say, I ate my cookies on the bus!

Winner of the Platinum Pudding:

    Once I reached my hotel, all I wanted to do was put some of my papers, notes and files in order as I had done a great deal of note-taking in the library. This took far longer than I expected but I did also manage to do some blogging. I had the TV on and was delighted to find that the finalist of the Platinum Pudding was about to be announced. The contest had been headed by chief judge Mary Berry and was graced by the final presence of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. It turned out that one of the contestants was an Indian lady from Bombay who concocted a Falooda Cake. But the ultimate winner was someone who made a complicated Trifle using oranges and lemons. It looks spectacular but I bet it is extremely difficult to make. Although she will go down in history as someone who created a special pudding for the Queen, I am not too sure many people will actually make it.

    With that show, my day came to an end. I spoke to Llew and then to my Dad and brother and once I was sure everyone was well, I called it a day. It had been a more relaxed day but with Amy gone, my hotel suddenly seemed empty and I looked forward to seeing Llew again as he will be arriving very shortly.

    Until tomorrow, cheerio...