Victoria and Albert Museum Collection Scraper

Victoria and Albert Museum Collection Scraper

Scrape the Victoria & Albert Museum collection by keyword, maker, or object type, up to a million objects per run. Each record includes the object title, maker, date, materials, techniques, and image URLs. No API key or login. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The V&A's official API needs registration and rate limits you. This reads the public collection search directly, filtered by maker, object type, or free-text query, and returns each match in one fixed schema. Search across 1.1 million objects of art and design, from ceramics and textiles to jewellery and photographs.

Who uses it	What they scrape Victoria and Albert Museum for
Art historians	Which objects a maker produced and where they are now
Market researchers	What types of objects are most common in a design period
App developers	Building a searchable catalogue of museum objects
Curators	Comparing holdings across makers and object types

What it does

This Actor collects Victoria and Albert Museum collection objects by search term, maker, or object type, and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🔍 Keyword search: free-text query across titles, makers, and descriptions.
• 👤 Maker filter: narrow to a specific artist, designer, or manufacturer.
• 🏺 Object type filter: narrow to a specific type like Armchair, Vase, or Dress.
• 📦 Batch export: up to 1,000,000 objects per run, paginated automatically.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Victoria and Albert Museum data

📚 Build a research dataset.

An art historian searches for 'Chippendale' and exports every matching object with maker, date, and materials to study workshop output.

📈 Track design trends.

A market researcher pulls all 'Armchair' objects from 1900 to 1950 and compares materials and techniques across decades.

🖼️ Power a museum app.

A developer scrapes the full collection for 'kimono' and uses the image URLs to build a visual browsing interface.

🏛️ Audit a collection.

A curator filters by object type 'Vase' and maker 'Wedgwood' to produce a holdings report for an exhibition plan.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Uses the public collection search, no registration or OAuth.
Fixed schema	Every object returns the same flat fields for easy analysis.
Large scale	Paid users can pull up to a million objects per run.
Flexible filters	Combine keyword, maker, and object type in one run.

How it compares

This Actor focuses on keyword, maker, and object type search with a fixed flat schema, while the competitors offer category browsing or specific object fetching.

Feature	ParseForge	Victoria and Albert Museum Scraper	V&A Museum Scraper - Collection Object Data
Keyword search	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maker filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed
Object type filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed
Category browsing	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Fetch specific object by ID	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Image URLs	Yes	Not listed	Yes
Materials and techniques	Yes	Yes	Not listed

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a search query, maker, and object type, alone or together, and filters run as each object is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "query": "chair",
 "maxItems": 10,
 "pageSize": 20
}

A larger pull:

{
 "query": "chair",
 "maxItems": 200,
 "pageSize": 20
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.004 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.40
1,000 results	$4.00
10,000 results	$40.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Victoria and Albert Museum through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/va-museum-collection-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your query spelling and try a broader term. If you set Maker or Object Type, remove them to see if the query alone returns objects.

Why did I only get 10 objects?

Free users are limited to 10 items as a preview. Upgrade to a paid plan and set Max Items higher.

Why is the run slow?

Lower the Results Per API Page to 20 or 50 to reduce request size, or narrow your filters to fetch fewer objects.

Why are some fields empty?

Not every object has a maker, date, or image. Empty fields mean the data is not present in the V&A collection record.

Can I scrape a specific object by ID?

This Actor searches by keyword, maker, or object type. To fetch a specific object, use a unique search term that matches its title.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a V&A API key?	No. This Actor uses the public collection search, so no registration or key is required.
How many objects can I scrape?	Free users are limited to 10 objects as a preview. Paid users can set Max Items up to 1,000,000.
Can I filter by maker or object type?	Yes. Use the optional Maker and Object Type inputs to narrow results before export.
What data does each object include?	Each row includes the object title, maker, date, materials, techniques, and image URLs, among other fields.
What export formats are supported?	You can export the dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Is the V&A collection complete?	The Actor searches the public collection, which covers over 1.1 million objects of art and design.
Can I search by a specific phrase?	Yes. The Query input accepts free-text search across titles, makers, and descriptions.
Does it return image URLs?	Yes. Each object includes image URLs when available in the collection data.
How does pagination work?	The Actor requests results in pages of up to 100 records and continues until Max Items is reached.
Can I run this on a schedule?	Yes. You can set up a recurring run in Apify to monitor new additions to the collection.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Victoria and Albert Museum. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.