Book Reviews

摘要

The title Grand Designs echoes A Grand Design (Baker and Richardson 1997; 1999), the self-published history of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). Whether this is a deliberate reference,or not, in this volume, Lara Kriegel ¨C Associate Professor of History at Florida InternationalUniversity ¨C offers new perspectives on the role of design, designers and the labouring classesin the early development of the predecessors of that august institution. In charting the transitionfrom the School of Design to the South Kensington Museum, Kriegel places an emphasis onthe South Kensington Museum's invention as a receptacle of superior craftsmanship, conceivedto elevate British manufacturing from the (perceived) doldrums; so far, so familiar. But whatmakes Kriegel's approach here distinct from other narratives of the V&A's historical development,is her argument that 'Rather than sprouting from barren soil, [?-] the museum evolved out of aculture concerned with market reform and artisanal education' (pp 196-7). A quick survey of theliterature available, suggests that this is a story largely absent from the scholarly record.Righting this omission in what Kriegel calls the 'prehistory of the Victoria and Albert Museum'(p. 2) thus provides a compelling justification for the book