Today’s treasures
Here’s one of our occasional guest posts, written by bestselling Scottish writer Sara Sheridan. Today, Sara thinks about what a ‘Treasure’ means to somebody living in the 21st century…
When I first walked through the British Galleries at the V&A I was bemused at the notion of tracing our cultural history through objects. Since being involved in the 26 Treasures project I have become fascinated by the idea.
It made me wonder if I was to populate a gallery with the spirit of 2010, which objects would I choose?
I am no label junkie, but I found myself consistently drawn to the idea of Laboutin shoes, Philippe Patek watches, Mulberry handbags and Cartier diamond rings. Like most of the objects written about by 26 Treasures, these designer goodies are out of the reach of most people in the UK today.
If I consider the cultural heritage of ordinary people – the remnants left between 1500–1760 by the majority of the population – sadly most day-to-day possessions have not survived. Personal possessions at that time were very few and most people were illiterate and would have been lucky to own even some clothes and basic furniture.
Today, however, with our thriving middle classes, a good deal of private possessions will survive in one form or another and many have glamour enough to be worth considering as icons worthy to uphold the name of our cultural heritage. iPads and iPhones, for example, are widely owned, as are fountain pens. Many of us have treasured cups and saucers (not a patch on the tea paraphernalia on display in the British Galleries, of course, but still it proves that hot drinks continue to drive our culture and that what we drink them from remains important).
The five interiors, lovingly constructed inside the galleries, of grand rooms in private houses might today, in a more populist manner, be represented by the interiors of hotel rooms – the Ice Hotel in Rekjavik perhaps and the enduring cool of somewhere like Babington House (accessible to many, but not all).
Stranger still is the idea of which objects might sum up my own life. These, I have come to realise, are the objects I use most. The beautiful, vintage ballgown and my grandmother’s sealskin coat sprang at first to mind but the truth is that my Moleskine diary and Nokia mobile phone are far more representative of how I actually live and what is really important to me.
I also value intellectual property – a few favourite films, pieces of music and books, to which I return often for inspiration. Also important are more perennial purchases – my favourite chocolates (Beschle Champagne Truffles) and a bunch of tulips (never yellow ones) on my way home.
It is an odd business, trying to view myself and my life from the outside and strange to think that (certainly for one of my nephews, when I asked him) the perfume I use makes me spring to mind more readily than a photograph. However, I think it is a useful device and a healthy way to take a look at our relationship to the physical world and, indeed, the legacy we will leave it.
Sara.
