The Art of Play: The Stuff of Nightmares

Mechanical toy cat, German 1900-1910,
and mechanical toy monkey, probably Schuco, 1920s
The Museum of Childhood
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Until February, 2012, The Museum of Childhood at the Victoria & Albert Museum, welcomes you to a magical and somewhat sinister world of unusual toys in their recently transformed Front Room Gallery.


Celebrated artists worked with school children to create this interesting installation which shows the innocence of a child’s playthings against a backdrop of fairytale mystery. Among the items on display are these mechanical German toys—a cat and a monkey respectively—which date between 1900 and 1920. The stuff of nightmares, indeed. But, an opportunity to find the innocence in superficial fear.