Maxine organised for a group of us to visit the Furniture Stores of the Victoria & Albert museum at Blythe House in London. It took nine months to organise & I'm hugely grateful to her for the opportunity. A few highlight pics
Please, Eoin! More photos and also some explanatory captions, please! Thank you in advance. Why is it called the Furniture Stores? I had a friend who worked as a curator for the Metropolitan Museum in New York and I got to look at a photograph some of the treasures that were there. That large-looking mandolin/mandola with the Preston tuners looks amazing.
Sure Jim, no problem. I'll just need to fit it in the gaps between work. I'll start with the Antonio Petroni no.50. Made in Rome 1865. Label inside says prize winner at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. (tried putting in more piccys here but they don't seem to work in answers to a post, just in the original post :/ ) Quoting the catalogue "This instrument was said to have been made for Queen Margherita of Italy (1851-1926) but its case bears an incorrect version of the Italian royal coat of arms - the heraldic cross is like a Swiss cross, when in fact it should span the whole shield" . My reading of it is that it can't have been made for her as queen, Italy had only just come under the rule of Victor Emmanuel, who's son Umberto, prince of Maples (her 1st cousin) she contracted to marry in 1868. So if it was made for her it was as Princess of Savoy. I'll have a rummage further into the history when time allows. Catalogue link ; http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O5...troni-antonio/