The Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection is the art, furniture, porcelain and a world class armory collected over the years by a wealthy London family. Housed in the Hertford house on Manchester Square in London, the collection and the house were donated to the British people by the Marquess of Hertford upon her death. Her bequest had a few stipulations: nothing was to be added or subtracted from the collection (nor was anything to be borrowed or lent), and certain things had to be included, but otherwise the entire museum (and it is a world class museum which consists entirely of her family's belongings) was given without any strings.

In every category of art represented in the Wallace Collection there are works of the highest quality. It is probably best known for its paintings by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, and Hals (The Laughing Cavalier) and Velazquez, and for its superb collections of eighteenth-century French paintings, porcelain, furniture and gold boxes, probably the best to be found anywhere outside of France.

Less well know is that the Wallace Collection features one of the finest groups of princely arms and armor in Europe along with splendid medieval and Renaissance objects including Limoges enamels, Maiolica, glass, and bronzes.

I spent some of my early life as a furniture maker and was totally blown away at the craftsmanship exhibited in the many extraordinary pieces of furniture in the collection. The marquetry and inlay pieces are astounding, and the gilded brass overlays are exquisite.

Here is a slide show of the pieces I most admired.