V&A ceramics and glass expert Reino Liefkes retires

Reino Liefkes, Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass, Department of Decorative Art and Sculpture, will be retiring on 1 May 2026 after 33 years and six months at the V&A Museum, London.

Reino joined the (then) Ceramics and Glass Department towards the end of 1992 having previously been Curator of Glass and Silver at the Haags Gemeentemuseum (now Kunstmuseum Den Haag), Netherlands. As an expert on European glass with a focus on Venice, his first few years as Deputy Curator were spent on the transformation of the Glass Gallery (131), the museum’s first FuturePlan (then MasterPlan) Project, working alongside the Chief Curator, the late Dr Oliver Watson. Reino was editor and co-author of the book Glass, published by the V&A in 1997.

After Oliver moved to the Asia Department to set up the Middle Eastern Section, Reino served as acting Chief Curator until, in 2002, the departments were reformulated and Reino took on his present title. He led the major FuturePlan redevelopment of the Ceramics Galleries over the years 2005 to 2010, and, alongside glass, specialised in Italian maiolica and Dutch Delftware. During this time he co-edited the V&A book Masterpieces of World Ceramics, which was published in 2008.

Reino also contributed to the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries and to the Europe 1600-1800 Galleries FuturePlan projects. For the latter, he researched and recreated the Meissen porcelain fountain by commissioning 3-D moulded replacement parts from the potter Martin Smith working with Steve Brown, senior tutor at the Royal College of Art.

Reino was acting Keeper for Decorative Art and Sculpture between 2023-24.

Throughout his career, Reino has made numerous significant acquisitions for the V&A’s collections and has been especially active in the field of contemporary glass. A hugely respected figure in the glass community, Reino has researched and published widely on glass and other subjects and holds, or has held editorial, advisory and committee posts with a number of external organisations including the International Council of Museums (ICOM) International Glass Committee, The Journal of Glass Studies (Corning Museum, New York), and The Association for the History of Glass, West Dean College.

Speaking about Reino’s imminent retirement, Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) Chair, Sarah Brown said, “I, along with our members, will be sad to see Reino retire from the V&A. He has been so supportive of the Contemporary Glass Society over the years. Recently, we held a much-loved day of talks from artists at the V&A and he shared his extensive knowledge with us on the history of glass and the collection in tours of the Contemporary Glass Gallery and no one wanted to go home! I want to wish him a very happy retirement, and I hope we can continue to see him at glassy events in the future.

“The glass community is so grateful for his support of us through his acquisition for the museum of such a varied and exciting collection of glass from current artists, too, which I think will inspire many generations to come, so we are very grateful for his work in building this collection.”

CGS members can read more about the V&A’s contemporary glass collection in the upcoming May 2026 edition of the print magazine Glass Network.

Image: Reino Liefkes, who retires on 1 May 2026.