Exquisite London: Victoria, Albert, Snuff Boxes, and Afternoon Tea

London had a bright past and it can still be seen today in museums.

A golden Prince Albert keeps watch across the street from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. /Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli/Kensington Gardens

Squinting at the jeweled snuff box of Frederick the Great in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, it occurs to me that you could make a theme tour called “Exquisite London.” It would feature the souvenirs and ego trips left over from London’s gilded age of obscene privilege, plus a few ostentatious knick knacks from our own time.

If tracking “Exquisite London,” I’d start in the Victorian Age with the Great Exhibition of 1851. And the best place to do that is in the amazing museum established by the profit from that fair, London’s beloved Victoria and Albert Museum.