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dc.coverage.spatialSite: Victoria and Albert Museum [South Kensington] (London, England, United Kingdom)en_US
dc.coverage.temporal1873 (creation)en_US
dc.creatorCole, Henryen_US
dc.creatorScott, Henry Young Darracotten_US
dc.date1873en_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-25T21:25:49Z
dc.date.available2013-01-25T21:25:49Z
dc.date.issued1873en_US
dc.identifier186395en_US
dc.identifier.otherarchrefid: 1842en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/95589
dc.descriptionThe Cast Courts at the V&A, two vast galleries [East Court and West Court] that house the Museum's most important plaster cast and electrotype reproductions, make a significant impression on visitors. These faithful copies were mainly taken from works of art or architectural details throughout Europe during the nineteenth century, when the collecting of such casts was at its most popular. The South Kensington Museum (as the V&A was originally known) was at the forefront of this enthusiasm for collecting plaster cast reproductions and electrotypes. The Museum commissioned or bought these reproductions from some of the leading cast manufacturers of the day. Many were gifts from other institutions, or came via the Convention for Promoting Universal Reproductions of Works of Art. This was the brainchild of Henry Cole, the Museum's first director, who saw the great educational benefits in amassing a comprehensive collection of casts. In 1867 Cole encouraged fifteen European princes, including Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to sign up to an agreement that would establish a formal procedure for the exchange of casts between European museums. The collection that was assembled allowed people who could not travel abroad to admire some of the major European monuments and works of art. The Cast Courts (originally named the Architectural Courts) were opened in 1873, the collected casts date from ca. 1852 to 1951.; The Cast Courts at the V&A, two vast galleries [East Court and West Court] that house the Museum's most important plaster cast and electrotype reproductions, make a significant impression on visitors. These faithful copies were mainly taken from works of art or architectural details throughout Europe during the nineteenth century, when the collecting of such casts was at its most popular. The South Kensington Museum (as the V&A was originally known) was at the forefront of this enthusiasm for collecting plaster cast reproductions and electrotypes. The Museum commissioned or bought these reproductions from some of the leading cast manufacturers of the day. Many were gifts from other institutions, or came via the Convention for Promoting Universal Reproductions of Works of Art. This was the brainchild of Henry Cole, the Museum's first director, who saw the great educational benefits in amassing a comprehensive collection of casts. In 1867 Cole encouraged fifteen European princes, including Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to sign up to an agreement that would establish a formal procedure for the exchange of casts between European museums. The collection that was assembled allowed people who could not travel abroad to admire some of the major European monuments and works of art. The Cast Courts (originally named the Architectural Courts) were opened in 1873, the collected casts date from ca. 1852 to 1951. Source: V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) [website]; http://www.vam.ac.uk/ (accessed 4/26/2009)en_US
dc.format.mediumcollection casts are plaster or electrotyped metalen_US
dc.rights© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.en_US
dc.subjectdecorative artsen_US
dc.subjectArt museumsen_US
dc.subjectMuseologyen_US
dc.subjectplaster sculptureen_US
dc.subjectelectrotypesen_US
dc.subjectart educationen_US
dc.subjectNineteenth centuryen_US
dc.titleVictoria and Albert Museum Cast Courtsen_US
dc.typeimageen_US
dc.rights.accessLicensed for educational and research use by the MIT community onlyen_US
dc.identifier.vendorcode1A2-E-L-VA-A7en_US
vra.culturalContextBritishen_US
vra.techniqueconstruction (assembling) casting (process)en_US
vra.worktypeart museumen_US
vra.worktypereplicaen_US
dc.contributor.displayHenry Cole (British museum director, 1808-1882); Henry Young Darracott Scott (British designer, 1822-1883)en_US


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