The V&A has commissioned artists Helen and Colin David to create a Christmas Tree for the Grand Entrance of the Museum. The Red Velvet Tree of Love is traditional in shape but is coated in visceral red flocking to give a deep velvet like appearance.
Reaching 4.75 meters high, the scarlet Christmas Tree is decorated with 79 sets of hand cast replica antlers and 67 white, heart-shaped baubles. The baubles have been printed in 3D and reference traditional Christmas motifs. The design for the tree was inspired by the V&A's collection, specifically a H.F.C Rampendahl chair dating from 1860, which has a frame primarily made from real antlers and is upholstered in velvet.
"I have always found beautiful and inspiring objects at the V&A, since I first came to London and visited as an art student," Helen David commented. "The combination of the feminine velvet and the masculine antlers of the Victorian era chair provided a very inspiring starting point for the tree, and of course the words 'velvet' and 'antler' begin with the letters V&A."