European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The cast copy of the Cathedral door of Santiago de Compostella Spain. Casting around for victorian Art in London by i. Kin Cruger . Bureau within the 12-acre vastness of London s Victoria and Albert museum is a unique example of a remarkable 19th-Century phenomenon. The architectural courts or cast courts As they have come to be popularly known comprise two enormous rooms containing plaster casts of Post classical european sculpture the largest and most comprehensive collection of casts to be found anywhere. Because of a reaction against copying works of Art earlier this Century the collection was largely ignored for decades. However with the quite recent revival of interest in the Art of the last Century and the reassessment of the victorians achievements the importance of the collection has come to be appreciated and it now delights a Large part of the museum s nearly 2 million annual visitors. The a a is most celebrated As a showcase of the decorative arts. In its Early years the victorians filled it with reproductions of All types casts electro types facsimile plate photographs and copy drawings. These formed a substantial and highly regarded part of the museum s Early collections. The a a was not alone in going that route and museums All Over the world used it As a cast of 16th Century German woodcarving by Riemenschneider. Tomb of Berengaria the Queen of Richard i from the 13th Century taken from the Church of St. Uen in be mans France. Model in building their collections. Sadly similar cast courts have since been destroyed or dispersed so that Only the a a collection along with others in Paris and Copenhagen remain. The collection is becoming increasingly valuable As a record of originals that have either been destroyed As in the Case of a 15th-Century Relief from Lubeck Germany botched by Over zealous restorers or severely deteriorated by pollution. The casts were acquired by the taking of plaster holds and most pieces required Many castings to Complete the whole. The casting process demanded specialists skills and the production of a Mammoth cast such As that of the wonderful 8 stripes Magazine March 6, 7986