‘… but if you buy medieval ivories, you do not buy Greek statues’. This, Paul Williamson notes in his introduction to this exemplary publication, was the response of the librarian of the British Museum, Antonio Panizzi, given to a Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1860 when questioned about the speed with which the British Museum was building up its collection of classical antiquities. The museum had recently bought the Maskell collection of ivories, and he clearly saw this as a diversion from the more important goal. The Trustees had already turned down the Fejérváry collection of ivories, which was subsequently bought by Liverpool. In London, the Victoria and Albert Museum (then still the Museum of Ornamental Art) stepped in to fill the gap, and, since the 1860s, it has built up the largest and most impressive collection of late antique and medieval ivories in the British Isles. Among its highlights are the Symmachi Panel (c ad 400 from Rome), the tenth-century Byzantine Veroli Casket, the Carolingian cover of the Lorsch Gospels, the Basilewsky Situla and an Anglo-Saxon reliquary cross.

Paul Williamson's book is the first volume in a new catalogue of this marvellous V&A collection, and it more than does justice to its material. Williamson has produced a truly outstanding account of the ivories that finally supersedes Margaret Longhurst's 1927 Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory at the Victoria and Albert Museum (itself an exemplary study for its time). This first volume includes 114 ivories carved between the fourth century and c 1200, covering all of the museum's late antique and Byzantine ivories, as well as its Anglo-Saxon, Carolingian and Ottonian collections and all its Romanesque ivories (divided geographically between place of origin around Europe). A final section introduces copies and forgeries of this group of ivories. In an age of austerity, the V&A are to be congratulated for providing the resources to make such a handsome volume.

The strength of the volume lies entirely in Paul Williamson's meticulous presentation of each object. His intimate knowledge of each ivory in his care, based on decades of study and acute observation, allows him to provide concise, cogent accounts. He is able to tease out the history of ivories – the ways in which the material has been reused or re-carved – even from just the placement of redundant hinge holes. It is by applying such detailed scrutiny that he is able to argue convincingly against the idea that the Orestes Diptych of ad 530 is re-carved from an earlier diptych, and to confirm that the Andrews Diptych is Carolingian rather than early Christian.

Williamson has been assiduous in trying to reconstruct the provenance for every piece as far as is possible, and is scrupulous in presenting all scholarly views on each piece. Where there is no consensus, Williamson uses his own knowledge of the objects to argue for a particular interpretation. I can find no instance where his arguments are weak or his conclusions unconvincing. If there is any criticism to be levelled at the catalogue, it is at Williamson's reticence: given his unequalled knowledge of all the ivories, more of his own views and opinions would have been welcome, particularly as the function of many of these ivories is still unclear. Where his views do appear, as for his association of the Basilewsky Situla with Otto ii's entry into Rome at Easter in ad 981, they are persuasive. One other item that would help specialists would have been the inclusion of the measurement of the thickness of each ivory plaque, but this is a very minor quibble.

Williamson's observations are supported by the magnificent photographs that accompany every object. Each ivory has been newly photographed, and is shown in colour at full size wherever possible. Each is accompanied by numerous details which reveal details of the grain of the ivory, the carving techniques employed, and even evidence for the addition of colour. They are more than a match for viewing the ivories through the glass of their display cabinets in the museum. He also includes views of the reverses. Whilst these may not usually interest casual viewers, Williamson is able to tease out every last area of interest, as when ivories have been reused and their original decoration shaved off, or where painted decoration or inscriptions have been added.

This volume sets a new standard in the publication of a national museum collection. We can now only wait for the publication of the second volume, on Gothic ivories, with eager anticipation.