There‘s more to museum shops than branded jumbo pencils and penknives. From rubber eyeballs to designer jewellery, Time Out surveys some of the best gifts on offer
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| The British Museum Shop |
Cartoon Museum
The
shop here sells an excellent selection of cartoon and comic strip
books, such as ‘World War II in Cartoons’ by Mark Bryant and ‘100
British Cartoonists of the Century’, plus postcards and plenty of
greetings cards by the likes of Bestie and Hugh & Wally.
Cartoon
Museum, 35 Little Russell St, WC1 (020 7580 8155/ www.cartoonmuseum.org)
Holborn or Tottenham Court Rd tube. Tue-Sat 10.30am-5.30pm; Sun 12.30-5pm.
Design Museum
A
useful place to stock up on innovative new items, and especially good
if you need to source an unusual gift. Shelves are filled with
must-have pieces: Tord Boontje’s ceramic plates and bowls (£10-£30) are
available in several colours and are covered with dainty flowers and
animals; Jamie Hewlett’s Designer of the Year posters (£6) are covered
in characters from Gorillaz; the Nabaztag wi-fi rabbit (£80), only
available from two UK stockists, is permanently connected to the
internet and can tell the time, as well as provide news and air-quality
reports.
Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, SE1 2YD (020 7403
6933/ www.designmuseum.org) London Bridge tube/rail or Tower Hill tube.
Open daily 10am-5.45pm.
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| Freud Museum's Psychobox |
Freud Museum
In
a backroom in Freud’s former London residence you’ll find a small shop
stocking all sorts of books on psychoanalysis, including those written
by the great man himself, Freud beanie babies (£13 and perennially
popular) and quirky games, including the Psychobox (£14.95, pictured),
a collection of cards displaying a variety of different visual
illusions, perception and intelligence tests – play with them at a
dinner party and discover all manner of hidden secrets about your
friends.
Freud Museum, 20 Maresfield Gardens, NW3 (020 7435 2002/ www.freud.org.uk) Finchley Rd tube. Open Wed-Sun 12noon-5pm.
Geffrye Museum
The
Geffrye Museum, housed in former almshouses, tells the story of British
domestic interiors and many items in its shop are based on furniture
and interior design. The museum’s publications are specialist and
include such catchy titles as ‘Home and Garden: Paintings and Drawings
of English Middle-Class Urban Domestic Spaces 1675 to 1914’, but are a
great resource for students and those with a special interest. There’s
plenty of stationery and postcards depicting interiors and houses, as
well as pretty beakers decorated with sequins (from £35) and colouring
books of period rooms for children (£2).
Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Rd, E2 (020 7739 9893/ www.geffrye-museum. org.uk) Liverpool St tube/rail then 243 bus. Open Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12noon-5pm.
Museum of Garden History
This
shop can possibly claim to be in the most serene location of all
London’s museum shops – the refurbished church of St Mary’s. Goods are
garden-related: practical and stylish stainless steel trowels, forks
and transplanters (£6.99 each), a ‘garden in a bag’ in either
forget-me-not or lavender (£7.99) and toiletries, including organic
soap. Mouthwatering goodies made specially for the museum include
gentlemen’s marmalade and lavender honey (£2.75-£3.95). There are
plenty of seeds in packets, too, but there’s also a new collection of
kitsch garden gnomes. How could you resist offering up a miniature Tony
Blair to the pigeons?
Museum of Garden History, Church of St
Mary-at-Lambeth, Lambeth Palace Rd, SE1 (020 7401
8865/www.museumgardenhistory.org) Waterloo tube/rail. Open daily
10.30am-5pm.
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