V&A Gilbert Galleries reopen after £5m overhaul to displays of decorative arts
- maxwell museums
- 7 minutes ago
- 7 min read
The V&A has unveiled its revamped Gilbert Galleries, housing the stunning decorative arts treasures of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection. To mark the reopening, here I interview the collection's curator Alice Minter.
This interview first appeared in the maxwell museums newsletter. Subscribe here
The V&A can’t stop expanding. Dundee's satellite museum. V&A East Storehouse. Next month’s new museum in East London (opening 18 April 2026 FYI).
And now three new galleries have been added to the permanent displays of the OG Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. You can’t fault the ambition!
I visited these new South Ken galleries last week ahead of their public opening. They’ve been added to the Gilbert Galleries which house one of the world’s most dazzling collections of decorative arts, collected during the 20th century by Sir Arthur Gilbert (1913 – 2001) and his first wife Rosalinde (1913 – 1995). We’re talking masterpieces of silver, enamel, gold boxes, and stone.
The collection has called the V&A home since 2008. But after a two-year refurbishment, the whole suite of spaces displaying it has been fully revamped and expanded in size — from four to seven rooms.
The shiny new Gilbert Galleries might be on the smaller end of the scale compared to the V&A’s other developments, but there’s still important innovations within them. For a start, one of the newly-added rooms is billed as Britain’s first permanent exhibition on looted art.
They also now include the museum’s first dedicated displays of micromosaics (18th-century images made of astonishingly tiny glass pieces), and collectively they’re the V&A’s first ever double aspect galleries (with windows either side, created from repurposing some offices).
But perhaps most significantly, these are, and always have been, the only permanent V&A galleries devoted to a private collection. Yes, the treasures on display here are cared for by the museum, but they do not belong to them. (Although I suspect part of the impetus for the overhaul is to grease the wheels to change that).
More reads from the V&A
— Inside V&A East Storehouse: Tim Reeve on London’s new museum
As such, the story of Rosalinde and Sir Arthur has been brought even further to the fore. The galleries explore the what, why and how of their collecting habits as much as the history and significance of the objects themselves.
So for today’s interview, I go behind-the-scenes with the curator who has led the transformation of these unusual galleries. Alice Minter has stewarded the Gilbert Collection at the V&A since 2018. Before that, she had a decade at Sotheby’s London.
Here I ask her what has changed, why a private collection gets such prominence at a publicly-owned museum, and what visitors will learn from the emphasis on looted art. Oh, and we talk about the bling on show that was once owned by European royalty too.
Hello Alice. Let’s start right from the top — what are decorative arts and why are they important?
Decorative arts encompass objects and furniture designed to furnish interiors or serve a function in the household, from silver and ceramics to gold boxes, tapestries and other three-dimensional works.
They’ve often been separated from “fine art” like painting and sculpture, but those distinctions are relatively modern and can be misleading. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, such objects were often more prized than paintings: they sparked curiosity, conversation and admiration.
By combining exquisite craftsmanship with utility, they reveal how people lived, what they valued, and how beauty was embedded in everyday life, which is exactly what we want visitors to experience here.
Are decorative arts a harder sell to the public compared to painting or sculpture?
There has been a clear shift in taste since the 20th century. When the Gilberts began collecting, silver was highly sought-after; today it is less so, and collecting habits have broadened across categories. Decorative arts also lack some of the frameworks that support painting and sculpture, objects are rarely signed, and there are fewer catalogue raisonnés, aside from figures like Paul de Lamerie, Johann Christian Neuber or Giacomo Raffaelli.
That said, I’ve just returned from TEFAF in Maastricht, where stands of decorative arts were busy and vibrant. Like fashion, collecting trends are cyclical and interest is always ready to return.
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries have reopened after a £5m transformation. How have they changed?
They’ve expanded from four to seven galleries, now spanning nearly 500 square metres. We’ve completely rethought the layout around three key themes: how objects were made (craft), how they were used (material culture), and how they changed hands over time (collecting histories).
Alongside this, we’ve introduced more interactive learning elements and significantly improved accessibility, reflecting the V&A’s commitment to a more inclusive visitor experience. The result is a richer, more layered presentation that invites visitors not just to admire the objects, but to understand the worlds they came from.
Who were Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert?
They were both born in England to Jewish families who had immigrated from Eastern Europe in the 1890s, part of London’s thriving garment-making community.
After marrying in 1934, they built a successful fashion business, Rosalinde Gilbert Ltd, which they sold in 1949 before moving to California. In the 1960s, as they built a new home in Beverly Hills, they began buying objects to furnish it, initially through dealers and auction houses in Los Angeles, then increasingly in New York and London during annual trips to the UK.
They invested in real estate, building a fortune that allowed them to begin acquiring works, initially decorative, but soon with increasing ambition and discernment.
What started as personal taste evolved into a world-renowned collection, reflecting both their entrepreneurial success and a deep, instinctive eye for craftsmanship and beauty.
I believe a number of the objects on show were owned by some huge figures in European history. Tell us about these pieces.
Yes several objects have remarkable royal and historical associations.
A standout is a pietre dure parure that belonged to Caroline Murat, Napoleon’s sister.
We also display a micromosaic table commissioned by Tsar Nicholas I for his daughter, depicting flowers she had personally drawn while travelling in Sicily.
Recommended read | Constable 250: why is John Constable's 250th birthday being celebrated?
Another highlight is a gold snuffbox gifted by Catherine the Great to Nathaniel Dimsdale, whose father famously inoculated her during the 1768 smallpox epidemic.
These objects aren’t just exquisite, they carry vivid, human stories that connect craftsmanship to moments of political and personal history.
The galleries bring the story of the Gilberts themselves to the fore. Why, and how did you balance this?
From giving tours since 2018, I knew visitors wanted to understand the people behind the collection.
We tested this through public consultation, which showed interest, but also a need for balance. Over three years, we worked with architects and audiences to refine that approach.
We avoided turning the galleries into a “shrine”, instead embedding the Gilberts’ story through subtle cues: gallery titles reflecting their journey, early “trigger” objects, and occasional archival references. Crucially, we let the objects lead. The Gilberts appear where relevant, not imposed, creating a more nuanced, object-led narrative.
Why is the V&A displaying a private collection so prominently?
The Gilbert Galleries offer visitors a rare insight into private collecting, the emotions, instincts and motivations behind building a collection that ultimately becomes public.
The Gilbert Collection also holds some of the world’s finest examples of both micromosaics and gold boxes, so their display in the new galleries focusing on those crafts and material cultures compliments the V&A’s national collection.
Is there a hope that one day the collection will transfer to the V&A?
The collection is on long-term loan to the V&A from the Gilbert Trust for the Arts and has these wonderful new permanent spaces that secures wide public access for a long time to come.
The collection benefits from the guidance of a very supportive and forward-thinking board of trustees. The current arrangement provides stability while allowing us to continue developing research, displays and public engagement around the collection.
It’s a strong and productive position to be in, and one that ensures the collection remains both well cared for and actively interpreted for audiences today.
📺 WATCH | How were the portrait miniatures in the Gilbert Galleries made?
The galleries feature Britain’s first permanent exhibition on looted art. What will visitors learn here?
The room dedicated to provenance, titled Uncovering Stories, explores both Nazi and Soviet looting through detailed case studies as well as fakes and forgeries.
It builds on three years of research into the Gilbert Collection, first presented in the display Concealed Histories. We’ve made this permanent because no other non-specialist institutions have addressed this subject so directly.
To convey complexity, we use “dual labels” showing both what the Gilberts knew at the time, and what recent research has later uncovered. One case follows silver altar gates from Kyiv, tracing their journey through Soviet looting to the Hearst collection. It’s about transparency, nuance and the ongoing responsibility of museums.
📩 Get museum news and interviews in your inbox with my weekly free newsletter
These galleries also highlight Anglo-Jewish history. How has your research fed into this?
My research developed alongside a wider project on Jewish country houses, which revealed the significant role of the Anglo-Jewish community in shaping British cultural life from the 19th century onwards.
We highlight objects within the collection here that tell this story, such as a pair of Torah finials linked to early Judaica collecting in Britain. Broader themes are explored through public programmes, including conferences, allowing for further research and discussion.
Finally, any favourite pieces visitors should look out for?
One of my favourites is an extraordinary snuffbox made from delicately worked, multi-coloured gold mounts framing 2 millimeters-thin panels of rock crystal, each set with gold and enamel butterflies.
I still don’t understand how the goldsmith managed to inset them without cracking the stone. It’s a piece that rewards close looking, technically astonishing, yet also incredibly poetic.
For me, it captures the essence of the Gilbert Collection: virtuosity, curiosity and a sense of wonder condensed into a single, jewel-like object.
The new Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries are now open at the V&A South Kensington. Entry is free, no ticket required.