Wallace Collection facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Wallace Collection

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Established	1897; 128 years ago (1897)
Location	Manchester Square London, WC1 United Kingdom
Collection size	approx. 5,500 objects
Visitors	419,020 (2016)
Public transit access	Bond Street;
Area	30 galleries

The Wallace Collection is a famous museum in London. It's located in Hertford House, which used to be a grand home for a noble family called the Seymours. The museum is named after Sir Richard Wallace. He, along with the Marquesses of Hertford, built up this amazing collection of art in the 1700s and 1800s.

The collection has about 5,500 beautiful and decorative art pieces. These range from the 1400s to the 1800s. You can see many French paintings and furniture from the 1700s. There are also old master paintings, fancy porcelain, and a lot of arms and armour. The museum has 25 galleries, and it's free to visit!

The museum officially opened in 1897. The art collection was mainly put together by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford. He left his art and house to his son, Sir Richard Wallace. Sir Richard's wife, Julie Amelie Charlotte Castelnau, then gave the entire collection to the country. The museum opened to the public in Hertford House in 1900, and it's still there today. For a long time, a rule was that no art piece could ever leave the collection, even for special exhibitions. But in 2019, this rule was changed so that some items can now be loaned out for a short time.

The United Kingdom has many artworks from old French royal times. These were bought by rich families during the French Revolution. The Wallace Collection, along with Waddesdon Manor and the Royal Collection, has one of the biggest and most important collections of French 18th-century decorative arts in the world. Only places like the Musée du Louvre in France have similar collections. The Wallace Collection is a public body, and its current director is Xavier Bray.

History of the Wallace Collection

A photo of Richard Wallace from 1857.

The Wallace Collection shows art gathered over many years. Five generations of a rich British family, the Marquesses of Hertford, and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess, collected these items. In the 1800s, the Marquesses of Hertford were one of the richest families in Europe. They owned many properties and became even wealthier through smart marriages.

The 3rd and 4th Marquess and Sir Richard Wallace became very important art collectors. Lady Wallace gave the collection of about 5,500 artworks to the British nation in 1897. The government then bought Hertford House to show the collection. It opened as a museum in 1900.

The museum is especially known for its French art from the 1700s. This includes paintings, furniture, porcelain, sculptures, and fancy gold boxes. You can also see amazing paintings from the 1500s to the 1800s. These are by famous artists like Titian, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Velázquez. The museum also has the best collection of royal arms and armour in Britain. Plus, there are beautiful medieval and Renaissance items. Paintings, furniture, and porcelain are displayed together. This helps to show how grand private art collections looked in the 1800s.

The Museum Building

Hertford House, where the museum is, was built in the 1700s. It was the London home of a branch of the Hertford family. Sir Richard and Lady Wallace lived here from 1870. Before them, the family only lived in the house for short periods. The house also served as the French and Spanish Embassy at different times.

In 2000, the inner courtyard was covered with a glass roof. A restaurant called "Cafe Bagatelle" was opened there. The museum doesn't try to show exactly how the house looked when Sir Richard and Lady Wallace lived there. Instead, it focuses on displaying the art.

Inside the Museum

The Front Hall of the Wallace Collection.

Let's take a look inside Hertford House!

Ground Floor

The Hall

The Dining Room.

The Billiard Room.

The Oriental Armoury.

The European Armoury I.

The Entrance Hall has marble statues of the three main people who created the Wallace Collection. These are Richard Seymour-Conway, Sir Richard Wallace, and Lady Wallace. Lady Wallace gave the entire collection to the British Nation. This room still looks much like it did when Sir Richard Wallace lived here.

Front State Room

This room shows how grand a London home was in the 1870s. It helps visitors imagine the past. The State Rooms were the most important rooms in the house. Important guests were welcomed here. When Sir Richard and Lady Wallace lived here, visitors first entered this room. It was, and still is, filled with portraits. Some of the furniture from 1890 is no longer here. But the porcelain on the cabinets and the chandelier are back in the room.

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  The Front State Room, restored to how it looked in 1890.

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  Rare Sèvres porcelain from the collection of Catherine the Great.

Back State Room

This room shows art from the time of King Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. It has great examples of the Rococo style. 'Rococo' comes from a French word meaning "loose stones." This art style uses curvy, natural shapes, like fountains, leaves, and flowers. Sir Richard Wallace used this room to entertain his guests. It used to have wooden panels on the walls. A large chandelier from 1751 is still in the room.

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  A special chest of drawers made for King Louis XV's bedroom at the Palace of Versailles.

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  A very rare Sèvres pot-pourri vase shaped like a ship.

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  A beautiful chandelier made in 1751.

Dining Room

This room displays French portraits from the 1700s. You can see works by Nattier and Houdon. There are also two oil sketches by Jean François de Troy. These were shown to King Louis XV for his dining room at Fontainebleau.

Billiard Room

This room shows decorative arts from the time of King Louis XIV.

Breakfast Room

This room is now used for visitor reception and as a cloakroom. It was once Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's breakfast room. An old photo from 1890 shows it had a large cabinet filled with Sèvres porcelain. It also had sixteen Dutch paintings. The French fireplace in this room was added in the mid-1700s.

Housekeeper's Room

This room is now the Wallace Collection Shop. It used to be where the family's housekeeper lived. Lady Wallace had over thirty servants, including housemaids, kitchen maids, a butler, and coachmen.

Oriental Armoury

This room displays arms, armour, and art from Eastern Europe, Turkey, and India. The 4th Marquess of Hertford collected most of this in the 1860s. Sir Richard Wallace used these items to bring an "Oriental" feel to his London home. The walls were covered with arms and armour from India, the Middle East, and the Far East. The ceiling had gold stars on a dark blue background.

European Armoury I

This room shows medieval and Renaissance arms and armour from the 900s to the 1500s. Sir Richard Wallace bought most of his European armour in 1871. He bought collections from a French minister and a famous collector named Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick. These arms and armour collections are now considered among the best in the world. This room used to be part of the stables.

European Armoury II

This room displays Renaissance arms and armour from the 1400s to the 1600s. Rich noblemen from these centuries ordered beautifully decorated weapons and armour. These were not just for war, but also for impressive jousts and festivals. Fine arms and armour were seen as works of art. This gallery shows some of the best examples of armour. They are like sculptures, decorated with gold and silver. This space was also part of Sir Richard Wallace's stables.

European Armoury III

This room has later arms and armour from the 1500s to the 1800s. You can see many decorated guns, rifles, and pistols. Some of these were made for European rulers, like Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France. This is a major collection of early firearms in the UK. This area used to be part of Sir Richard Wallace's coach house and stable yard.

Sixteenth-Century Gallery

This gallery has art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods. It also has important Renaissance paintings. Sir Richard Wallace collected most of this part of the collection. Like many collectors in the 1800s, he was very interested in the art and history of these times. This gallery used to be two smaller rooms. One room was set up like a "cabinet of curiosities." It had paintings and pottery on the walls. Smaller artworks were kept in cases. The other room was called the Canaletto Room. It showed paintings by the artist Canaletto.

Smoking Room

The Smoking Room displays paintings and art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods. It includes most of Sir Richard Wallace's collection of Italian Renaissance pottery. Sir Richard Wallace would invite his male guests here after dinner. They would smoke and talk about the day. The room had an "Oriental" style. The walls were covered with Turkish-style tiles. A small part of this original design can still be seen. This style was fashionable and also practical, as it stopped the smell of smoke from staying in the fabrics.

Upper Floor

Landing

The Landing is the main meeting point on the first floor. It has paintings of myths and nature by Boucher. It's also a great place to see the beautiful iron work of the staircase railing. This railing was made in 1719 for a bank in Paris. Hertford House was built in the late 1700s. After being the Spanish Embassy, the 2nd Marquess of Hertford bought it in 1797. He added a conservatory and two rooms on each side of the first floor.

Lower Ground Floor

Porphyry Court

The Porphyry Court used to be a rather dull backyard. But in 2000, it was made much larger and given a dramatic set of stairs.

Art Collections

The Wallace Collection has almost 5,500 objects. It includes a wonderful range of fine and decorative arts from the 1400s to the 1800s. The collection is best known for its amazing French paintings from the 1700s. It also has Sèvres porcelain and French furniture. But there are many other treasures too! These include the best collection of royal arms and armour in Britain. You can see both European and Oriental items. There are also beautiful gold boxes, tiny paintings (miniatures), sculptures, and medieval and Renaissance artworks. These include pottery, glass, and bronzes. Every part of the Collection has very high-quality art.

The artworks in the Collection include:

• Paintings, watercolours, and drawings: 775
• Furniture: 528
• Ceramics: 510
• European and Oriental arms and armour: 2,370
• Sculpture: 466
• Miniatures: 334
• Medieval and Renaissance works of art: 363
• Goldsmiths' work: 120

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  The Large Drawing Room, with furniture by Andre-Charles Boulle.

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  Part of the Wallace Collection's Sèvres porcelain.

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  The Front State Room, redecorated to look like the late 1800s.

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  The Great Gallery in 2012, showing Rubens' Landscape With A Rainbow.

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  The Small Drawing Room.

Museum Departments

The Wallace Collection is divided into six main areas: Pictures and Miniatures; Ceramics and Glass; Sculpture and Works of Art; Arms and Armour; Sèvres porcelain; and Gold Boxes and Furniture.

Pictures and Miniatures

The Wallace Collection has some of the most important Old Master paintings in the world. These paintings date from the 1300s to the mid-1800s. Highlights include Dutch and Flemish paintings from the 1600s. There are also French paintings from the 1700s and 1800s. You can also see works by English, Italian, and Spanish artists. The collection is strong in works by Rembrandt (5 paintings), Rubens (9 paintings), Van Dyck (4 paintings), and Watteau (8 paintings). The collection includes paintings, watercolours, and drawings from all major European art schools.

Paintings, drawings, and watercolours in the collection

• British, German, Spanish, and Italian – 151 paintings, 60 drawings
• French (19th century) – 134 paintings, 57 watercolours
• French (before 1815) – 144 paintings, 8 drawings and watercolours
• Dutch – 173 paintings, 2 drawings
• Flemish – 8 paintings

Dutch School:

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  Aelbert Cuyp - The Avenue at Meerdervoort, 1650–1652.

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  Frans Hals – The Laughing Cavalier, 1624.

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  Jan Davidsz de Heem - Still life with Lobster, 1643.

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  Nicolaes Maes - The Listening Housewife, 1656.

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  Rembrandt – The Artist's Son Titus, around 1657.

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  Rembrandt - The Good Samaritan, 1630.

English School

• Thomas Gainsborough – 2 paintings
• Thomas Lawrence – 5 paintings
• Joshua Reynolds – 12 paintings
• J. M. W. Turner – 4 paintings

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  Thomas Gainsborough – Mrs Mary Robinson (Perdita), around 1781.

Flemish School

• Peter Paul Rubens – 9 paintings
• David Teniers the Younger – 9 paintings
• Anthony van Dyck – 4 paintings

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  Adriaen Brouwer - Sleeping peasant, 1630–1638.

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  Anthony van Dyck – Portrait of Philippe Le Roy, 1630.

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  Anthony van Dyck - The Shepherd Paris, around 1628.

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  Peter Paul Rubens – Christ's Charge to Peter, around 1616.

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  Peter Paul Rubens - Landscape with a Rainbow, around 1638.

French School:

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  François Boucher - Madame de Pompadour, 1759.

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  François Boucher – The Rising of the Sun, 1753.

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  Jean-Honoré Fragonard - The Musical Contest, 1754–55.

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  Jean-Honoré Fragonard - The Swing, 1767.

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  Jean-Marc Nattier - The Comtesse de Tillières, 1750.

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  Jean-Marc Nattier - Mademoiselle de Clermont as a Sultana, 1733.

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  Nicolas Poussin – A Dance to the Music of Time, around 1634–1636.

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  Jean-Antoine Watteau - The Halt during the Chase, around 1718–1720.

Italian School

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  Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) – The Bacino from the Giudecca, Venice, around 1740.

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  Francesco Guardi - The Dogana with the Giudecca, around 1775.

Spanish School

• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo – 9 paintings (one of the largest collections of his work)
• Diego Velázquez – 2 paintings, including Lady with a Fan

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  Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Marriage of the Virgin, 1670.

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  Diego Velázquez – Lady with a Fan, around 1638–39.

Ceramics

A 16th-century Limoges enamel dish.

The museum has beautiful examples of porcelain. This includes Meissen porcelain and one of the world's most important collections of 18th-century Sèvres porcelain. The Sèvres collection has 137 vases, 80 tea sets, and many other items. The Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace collected these between about 1802 and 1875.

Arms and Armour

As of 2020, Dr. Tobias Capwell is the expert in charge of the Arms and Armour collection.

Furniture

The Wallace Collection has one of the most important collections of French furniture in the UK. It is considered one of the greatest in the world. The collection has more than five hundred pieces. Most of it is French furniture from the 1700s. But there are also some important French pieces from the 1800s, and some Italian, English, and German furniture.

The collection includes large cabinets, chairs, clocks, and items made of gilt-bronze. A special highlight is the large collection of furniture made by André Charles Boulle (1642–1732). He is perhaps the most famous cabinet-maker ever.

Here are some of the furniture makers whose work is in the collection:

• Joseph Baumhauer – 1 item
• André-Charles Boulle – 22 items
• Martin Carlin – 4 items
• Adrien Delorme – 2 items
• Étienne Doirat – 1 item
• Étienne Levasseur – 5 items
• Alexandre-Jean Oppenord – 3 items
• Jean Henri Riesener – 10 items (including pieces made for Marie-Antoinette)
• Bernard I Van Risen Burgh – 1 item
• Nicolas Sageot – 2 items
• Adam Weisweiler – 4 items

Getting There

Service	Station/stop	Lines/routes served	Distance from Wallace Collection
London Buses	Wigmore Street / Orchard St	13, 139	250m
London Underground	Bond Street		450m

See also

In Spanish: Colección Wallace para niños