The best laid plans.

Yesterday I met Arty L in London. Our original plans had to be abandoned because the place we had in mind has closed for a couple of weeks. So it had to be plan B and The V & A is always a perfect fit in such an emergency!

Rather than spend lots of time seeing as much as possible we hatched a plan to spend our limited hours in just two galleries....textiles and jewellery it was then! In my head I thought there would be lots of photos of the beautiful things we saw....another plan scotched I'm afraid. The combination of glass, no flash and reduced lighting meant lots of blurred images. The best laid plans of mice and men eh! Instead I have selected only three with the hope of it being the case of quality over quantity.

Evening coat from 1937. It was designed by Elsa Schiapaprelli and Jean Cocteau. First I saw the roses, then I noticed the faces and then finally the vase. Cocteau was well known for his love of the double image apparently.

This one just for the impact of the jewel colours against the black background.

Leaving the best till last. This modern necklace [2012] is by the English jeweller Kevin Coates and is part of his Bestiary of Jewels. This one is inspired by the parrot Loulou which features in Flaubert's short story " A Simple Heart". There are more photos featured here https://www.harleygallery.co.uk/exhibition/bestiary-jewels/

Arilx