Our collection

Just as you might have a collection of trainers at home, the V&A houses the UK’s collection of art, design and performance. The collection is huge, varied and belongs to the British public. Over the years the collection has grown to include over 1.5 million objects, 250,000 of which you can see all around you in Storehouse, alongside 350,000 library books and over 1,000 archives. What will you discover?

Written by: Kristian Volsing, Senior Curator, Contemporary Programme
Published: May 2025

Collecting Stories

Museum Number
B.59-2013
Title/Description
Designer Sportwear
Artist/Maker
John Heywood
Location
Northampton
Date
1983
Materials/Techniques
Photographic paper, Photography
Object information
Museum Number
S.398-2016
Title/Description
Mother Goose
Artist/Maker
Lotte Collett
Location
Great Britain
Date
2014
Materials/Techniques
Card, Watercolour, Pencil, Designing, Painting
Object information
Museum Number
CD.24-2018
Title/Description
Minitel 1B
Location
France
Date
1986
Materials/Techniques
Plastic, Glass, Electronic components
Object information
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Museum Number
E.287-2013
Title/Description
London Olympic Cauldron model
Artist/Maker
Thomas Heatherwick
Location
London
Date
2012
Materials/Techniques
Copper, Brass, Steel
Object information
Museum Number
T.15:1 to 3-2015
Title/Description
Nova Shoes
Artist/Maker
Hadid, Zaha
Location
Great Britain
Date
2013
Materials/Techniques
Rubber, Fibreglass, Leather
Object information

Our collection

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