The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in
Manchester Square, the former
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
of the Seymour family,
Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after
Sir Richard Wallace
Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet (21 June 1818 – 20 July 1890), of Sudbourne, Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk, Hertford House in London, and of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris, was a British art collector and Francophile.
Origins and youth
Ric ...
, who built the extensive collection, along with the Marquesses of Hertford, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection features
fine and
decorative art
]
The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usua ...
s from the 15th to the 19th centuries with important holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms and armour,
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
and
Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries. It is open to the public and entry is free.
It was established in 1897 from the private collection mainly created by
Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870), who left both it and the house to his illegitimate son Sir Richard Wallace (1818–1890),
whose widow
Julie Amelie Charlotte Castelnau bequeathed the entire collection to the nation. The collection opened to permanent public view in 1900 in Hertford House, and remains there to this day. A condition of the bequest was that no object should ever leave the collection, even for loan exhibitions. However in September 2019, the board of trustees announced that they had obtained an order from the
Charity Commission for England & Wales which allowed them to enter into temporary loan agreements for the first time.
The United Kingdom is particularly rich in the works of the ''
ancien régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
'', purchased by wealthy families during the
revolutionary sales, held in France after the end of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
. The Wallace Collection,
Waddesdon Manor and the
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
, all three located in the United Kingdom, are some of the largest, most important collections of French 18th-century decorative arts in the world, rivalled only by the
Musée du Louvre,
Château de Versailles and
Mobilier National in France. The Wallace Collection is a
non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...
and the current director is Xavier Bray.
History
The Wallace Collection is a museum which displays works of art collected in the 18th and 19th centuries by five generations of a British aristocratic family – the first four
Marquesses of Hertford and
Sir Richard Wallace
Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet (21 June 1818 – 20 July 1890), of Sudbourne, Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk, Hertford House in London, and of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris, was a British art collector and Francophile.
Origins and youth
Ric ...
, the illegitimate son of the
4th Marquess. In the 19th century, the Marquesses of Hertford were one of the wealthiest families in Europe. They owned large properties in England, Wales and Ireland, and increased their wealth through successful marriages. Politically of lesser importance, the 3rd and 4th Marquess and Sir Richard Wallace became leading art collectors of their time.
The Wallace Collection, comprising about 5,500 works of art, was bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. The state then decided to buy Hertford House to display the collection and it was opened as a museum in 1900. As a museum the Wallace Collection's main strength is
18th-century French art: paintings, furniture, porcelain, sculpture and gold snuffboxes and 16th- to 19th-century paintings by such as
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
,
Van Dyck,
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
,
Hals,
Velázquez,
Gainsborough and
Delacroix, a collection of arms and armour and medieval and Renaissance objects including
Limoges enamel
Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal ...
s,
maiolica, glass and bronzes. Paintings, furniture and porcelain are displayed together in the manner of private collections of the 19th century.
Building
Hertford House, Cannon Row
The 16th- and 17th-century Hertford House was the
London townhouse of
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Baron Beauchamp, KG (22 May 1539 – 6 April 1621), of Wulfhall and Totnam Lodge in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, of Netley Abbey, Hampshire, and of Hertford House, Cann ...
(1539–1621) and was in a different location:
Cannon Row
Canon Row is a historic street in the City of Westminster in London. It is best known as the location of Canon Row Police Station.
History
In 1878 Canon Row extended from the back of Richmond Terrace to Bridge Street, Westminster, and about midw ...
in Westminster. His father
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (executed 1552), brother of Queen
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...
, had started building the palatial
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
on the
Strand as his townhouse, but did not live to see its completion.
Hertford House, Manchester Square
The present House in Manchester Square was the townhouse of a later junior branch of the family. It was built in 1776 by
George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester who owned and developed the surrounding estate. It dominates the north side of the Square, where it occupies an island site, and was originally named "Manchester House". After being used as the Spanish Embassy 1791–1795 (evidenced by "Spanish Place" the street to the east of the building) the lease was acquired in 1797 by
Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford (1743–1822), who in 1814 held there the Allied Sovereigns' Ball after the first defeat of Napoleon in 1814.
Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford (1777–1842), the family's first great art collector, lived mainly at his other London residences,
Dorchester House in Mayfair and
St Dunstan’s Villa in Regents Park, now the site of the residence of the US Ambassador. Between 1836-51 Hertford House was let for use as the French Embassy. His son
Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870), who expanded his father's art collection, lived most of his life in Paris, and rarely visited Hertford House, used "largely as a store for his ever-expanding art collection". He is said never to have visited his principal English country seat of
Ragley Hall in Warwickshire. The 4th Marquess died in 1870, aged 70 in Paris, unmarried and without legitimate issue, and his titles and entailed estates, including the lease of Hertford House, passed to his distant cousin
Francis Seymour, 5th Marquess of Hertford (1812–1884). However the 4th Marquess's illegitimate son and heir of his unentailed estate,
Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet (1818–1890), inherited his art collection, French and Irish estates, and re-purchased Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk and in 1871 the lease of Hertford House from the 5th Marquess, and returned from Paris with much of the art collection to take up residence in England, following the unstable political climate in France following the Prussian
Siege of Paris (1870–1871). Wallace in turn expanded the art collection, adding medieval and Renaissance objects and European arms and armour. Between 1872–1882 the house was much altered by Sir Richard Wallace, who added a rear extension to house his art collection with a smoking room lined with Minton tiles in Turkish style. Under the architect Thomas Ambler a new front portico was added in the form of a
porte-cochère, with large Doric pilasters, storeys were added to both wings and the stables and coach house were converted to galleries by the addition of top-lit roofs. The whole building was given a red brick facade and the windows were altered. Wallace bequeathed all his assets to his wife, who in turn and most probably according to his wishes, bequeathed the main part of her husband's art collection to the nation, thus forming the "Wallace Collection", the rest, including the French properties and Hertford House, going to the couple's secretary Sir John Murray Scott, 1st Baronet. Scott sold the lease of Hertford House to the UK Government, as a suitable home for the Wallace Collection, after which he was rewarded with a baronetcy, and the Government acquired the freehold from the
Portman Estate
The Portman Estate, covering 110 acres of Marylebone in London’s West End, was founded in 1532 when the land was first leased to Sir William Portman.
The Portman Estate also has two rural estates in Buckinghamshire and Herefordshire. In a ...
. Hertford House first opened as a museum on 22 June 1900. In 2000, the inner courtyard was given a glass roof and a restaurant was opened named "Cafe Bagatelle" after the
Château de Bagatelle in Paris purchased in 1835 by
Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford, later part of Scott's inheritance. The museum display does not aim to reconstruct the state of the house when Sir Richard and Lady Wallace lived here.
Interior
Ground Floor
Hall
The Entrance Hall contains marble busts of the three principal founders of the Wallace Collection: Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870), his son, Sir Richard Wallace (1818–1890) and in the lobby, Lady Wallace, who bequeathed the contents of Hertford House to the British nation on her death in 1897. The room has retained the aspect it had in Sir Richard Wallace's day more than any other room in the building.
Front State Room
This room reveals the opulence of the London town house in the 1870s and sets the scene for visitors to the Wallace Collection. The State Rooms were the grandest rooms in the house, in which the most important visitors were received. When it was the home of Sir Richard and Lady Wallace, visitors to Hertford House first entered the Front State Room, then, as now, hung with portraits. Some of the modern furniture seen in the room in 1890 is no longer in the collection, but the mounted
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
displayed on the cabinets and the
chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...
, made by
Jean-Jacques Caffiéri
Jean-Jacques Caffieri (29 April 1725 – 22 June 1792) was a French sculptor. He was appointed ''sculpteur du Roi'' to Louis XV and later afforded lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre. He designed the fine ''rampe d'escalier'' which still adorns the ...
, have been returned to the room.
File:The Wallace Collection - Front State Room.jpg, The Front State Room – architecturally restored to its appearance in 1890 with much of the original furnishings returned
File:The Wallace Collection - Sevres, two 'Seaux 'à glace' and a 'Seaux 'à bouteille', 1778-79 for Catherine II of Russia.jpg, Sèvres – Three rare pieces from the celebrated collection of Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
, Empress of Russia, now held in the Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...
in St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
Back State Room
''Displays: The Rococo at the time of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour''
The Back State Room is today dedicated to the patronage of King Louis XV (1715–1774) and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It displays some of the prominent examples in the Wallace Collection of art in the
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
style. Sir Richard Wallace used the Back State Room to entertain guests at Hertford House. During his lifetime it had wooden boiserie panelling on the wall; the great chandelier, by
Jacques Caffiéri, dating from 1751, remains in the room.
File:The Wallace Collection - King Louis XV's commode for Versailles by Gaudreaus.jpg, Antoine Gaudreau
Antoine-Robert Gaudreau (c. 1680 – 6 May 1746) was a Parisian ''ébéniste'' who was appointed ''Ébéniste du Roi'' and was the principal supplier of furniture for the royal châteaux during the early years of Louis XV's reign. He is largely kn ...
– This highly-important commode, with gilt-bronze mounts by Jacques Caffieri
Jacques Caffieri (25 August 1678, Paris – 25 November 1755, Paris) was a French sculptor, working for the most part in bronze.
Life
Jacques Caffiéri was the fifth son of Philippe Caffieri (1634-1716), the founder of this family of artists. ...
, was delivered in April 1739 for King Louis XV's Bedchamber at the Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
File:The Wallace Collection - Vase 'pot pourri à vaisseau' (of the first size), c. 1761.jpg, Sèvres pot-pourri vase in the shape of a ship, one of the rarest, largest and most elaborate vases ever produced by Sèvres
File:The_Wallace_Collection_-_Chandelier_by_Caffiéri,_1751.jpg, This magnificent twelve-light chandelier was made by Jacques Caffiéri in 1751. It was given by Louis XV to his eldest daughter, Louise-Elisabeth, Duchess of Parma, during one of her visits to Paris in the 1750s
Dining Room
''Displays: Eighteenth-century still lifes and portraits''
The room contains masterworks of French 18th-century portraiture by
Nattier
Jean-Marc Nattier (17 March 1685 – 7 November 1766) was a French painter. He was born in Paris, the second son of Marc Nattier (1642–1705), a portrait painter, and of Marie Courtois (1655–1703), a miniaturist. He is noted for hi ...
and
Houdon
Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor.
Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...
and two oil sketches by
Jean François de Troy
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Je ...
, for decoration of Louis XV's dining room in Fontainebleau, shown to the king for approval.
Billiard Room
''Displays: The Decorative Arts under Louis XIV''
Breakfast Room
''Displays: Visitor Reception and Cloakroom''
This room was formerly Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's breakfast room. As this photograph from c. 1890 shows, it contained a large cabinet filled with Sèvres porcelain dinner wares, probably more for use than decoration, and sixteen Dutch pictures. The French chimneypiece in this room was made in the mid-18th century and installed in this room when the house was modified for Sir Richard and Lady Wallace.
Housekeeper's Room
''Displays: Wallace Collection Shop''
This room was occupied during Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's lifetime by the family's housekeeper. Lady Wallace's housekeeper was Mrs Jane Buckley, a Londoner by birth. There were over thirty servants, including housemaids, kitchen maids, a lady's maid, a butler, footmen, a valet, coachmen, a groom and stable lads.
Oriental Armoury
''Displays: East European, Turkish and Indo-Persian Arms, Armour and Works of Arts
The Oriental arms and armour in the Wallace Collection were largely collected by the 4th Marquess of Hertford in the 1860s, the last decade of his life. Like many of his contemporaries, Sir Richard Wallace used this material to bring Oriental exoticism, as it was then considered, into his fashionable London house. The Oriental Armoury was displayed on the first floor of Hertford House. Trophies of arms and armour from India, the Middle East, the lands of the old Ottoman Empire, and the Far East, patterned the walls of the Oriental Armoury, whilst the ceiling was decorated with a pattern of gold stars on a deep blue background.
European Armoury I
''Displays: Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armour (tenth to sixteenth centuries)''
Sir Richard Wallace acquired most of his European armour in 1871, when he bought the collections of the comte Alfred Emilien de Nieuwekerke, Minister of Fine Arts to Napoleon III and director of the Louvre, as well as the finest parts of the collection of
Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, a pioneering collector and scholar of arms and armour. The arms and armour collections are today recognised as among the finest in the world. During Sir Richard Wallace's lifetime, this room formed part of the stables with the grooms' bedrooms on a mezzanine floor. Sir Richard's European arms and armour were displayed in one large gallery, today's West Gallery III, on the first floor, directly above European Armoury I.
European Armoury II
''Displays: Renaissance Arms and Armour (fifteenth to seventeenth centuries)''
The Wallace Collection contains some of the most spectacular Renaissance arms and armour in Britain. All of the richest and most powerful noblemen of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries commissioned beautifully decorated weapons and armour, not just for war, but also for use in the awe-inspiring jousts, tournaments and festivals of the time. Fine arms and armour were considered works of art as much as warlike equipment. Displayed in this gallery are some of the finest examples of the armourer's art, exquisite sculptures richly embellished with gold and silver. This space was formerly part of Sir Richard Wallace's stables.
European Armoury III
''Displays: Later Arms and Armour (sixteenth to nineteenth centuries)''
The array of sporting guns, rifles and pistols in this room includes a large number of extravagantly decorated 16th- and early-17th-century wheel-lock firearms, together with an impressive group of magnificent civilian flint-lock guns of the Napoleonic era. Several of the weapons here were made for European rulers, including Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. It is a major collection of early firearms in the United Kingdom. This space was formerly part of Sir Richard Wallace's coach house and stable yard.
Sixteenth-Century Gallery
''Displays: The Collector's Cabinet''
The Sixteenth-Century Gallery houses works of art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods and a group of important Renaissance paintings. This part of the Wallace Collection was mainly assembled by Sir Richard who, like many 19th-century collectors, was fascinated by the art and history of Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Sixteenth-Century Gallery comprised two smaller rooms during Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's lifetime. The contemporary photograph shows how one room was arranged by Sir Richard as a cabinet of curiosities, with paintings and maiolica densely hung on the walls and smaller works of art kept in cases or inside Renaissance cabinets. The other room, known as the Canaletto Room, was used to display the collection of paintings by Canaletto.
Smoking Room
''Displays: Medieval and Renaissance Works of Art''
The Smoking Room exhibits paintings and works of art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, including the greater part of Sir Richard Wallace's collection of Italian Renaissance maiolica. Sir Richard Wallace would have invited his male guests to the Smoking Room after dinner, to discuss affairs of the day over an enjoyable pipe or cigar. The room had oriental interiors, with walls lined with Turkish-style tiles made by the
Minton factory in Stoke-on-Trent, the floor laid with a patterned mosaic. A small section of this interior survives in the alcove at the north end of the room. This was not only a highly fashionable look for a late Victorian smoking room but also practical, ensuring the smell of smoke did not linger in any fabric furnishings.
Upper Floor
Landing
The Landing serves as the main orientation point on the first floor. It is hung with mythological and pastoral paintings by Boucher and is also perhaps the best place to admire the wrought iron work of the staircase balustrade, made in 1719 for the Royal bank in Paris. Hertford House was built in 1776–78 for the 4th Duke of Manchester. After a brief spell as the Spanish Embassy, it was bought by the 2nd Marquess of Hertford in 1797. He added the conservatory, in place of a Venetian window on the Landing and two first-floor rooms on each wing.
Lower Ground Floor
Porphyry Court
The Porphyry Court was little more than a rather dismal back yard until 2000, when it was transformed by being doubled in size and provided with a dramatic pair of flights of stairs.
Collections
The Collection numbers nearly 5,500 objects, a range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The collection is known for its 18th-century French paintings,
Sèvres porcelain and French furniture but also displays other objects, such as arms and armour featuring both European and Oriental objects, as well as displays of gold boxes, miniatures, sculpture and
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
works of art such as
maiolica, glass, bronzes and
Limoges enamels
Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal ...
.
The works of art in the Collection comprise:
:*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
Image:Wallace Collection Large Drawing Room.jpg, Large Drawing Room – Contains some of the most spectacular works by the French furniture-maker, Andre-Charles Boulle
Image:Wallace Collection Sèvres porcelain.jpg, Part of the Wallace Collection's great ensemblage of Sèvres porcelain
Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for i ...
Image:Wallace Collection first floor drawing room.jpg, Front State Room – Redecorated in the mid-1990s to appear as though it would have in the late 19th century
Image:The Great Gallery In the Wallace Collection, London in July 2012.jpg, The Great Gallery in 2012, featuring Rubens' ''Landscape With A Rainbow'', portraits by Van Dyck, and other important works
File:The Small Drawing Room.jpg, The Small Drawing Room
Departments
The Wallace Collection is split into six curatorial departments: 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's Old Master paintings are some of the most prominent in the world, and date from the 14th to the mid-19th centuries. The highlights include
Dutch and
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
paintings of the 17th century, 18th- and 19th-century French paintings, and works by English, Italian and Spanish artists. Strengths of the collection include 5 Rembrandts (and school), 9 Rubens's, 4 Van Dycks, 8 Canalettos, 9 Guardis, 19 François Bouchers,
Fragonard, 9 Murillos, 9 Teniers, 2 Titians,
Poussin, 3 Velázquezs and 8 Watteaus. The inventory of pictures, watercolours and drawings comprises all the major European schools.
Paintings, drawing 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
[''The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Pictures IV'']
# Flemish – 8 paintings
''Dutch School:''
*
Ferdinand Bol – 1 painting
*
Gerard ter Borch
Gerard ter Borch (; December 1617 – 8 December 1681), also known as Gerard Terburg (), was a Dutch genre painter who lived in the Dutch Golden Age. He influenced fellow Dutch painters Gabriel Metsu, Gerrit Dou, Eglon van der Neer and Johan ...
– 2 paintings
*
Aelbert Cuyp – 5 paintings
*
Gerrit Dou – 1 painting
*
Frans Hals
Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem.
Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century grou ...
– 1 painting
*
Bartholomeus van der Helst – 1 painting
*
Meyndert Hobbema – 5 paintings
*
Melchior d'Hondecoeter – 3 paintings
*
Pieter de Hooch – 2 paintings including ''
A Boy Bringing Bread
''A Boy Bringing Bread'' (c. 1663) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is part of The Wallace Collection.
Descriptions and commentary
A boy offers a basket of brea ...
'' and ''
A Woman Peeling Apples
''A Woman Peeling Apples'' (c. 1663) is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Pieter de Hooch in the Wallace Collection in London.
Description
It is a genre painting showing a quiet domestic scene from the time, like most of de Hooch's w ...
''
*
Gabriel Metsu – 5 paintings
*
Adriaen van Ostade – 2 paintings
*
Isack van Ostade – 2 paintings
*
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
– 5 paintings
*
Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruisdael – 4 paintings
*
Frans Snyders – 1 painting
*
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour.
Lif ...
– 5 paintings
*
Adriaen van de Velde
Adriaen van de Velde (bapt. 30 November 1636, in Amsterdam – bur. 21 January 1672, in Amsterdam), was a Dutch painter, draughtsman and print artist. His favorite subjects were landscapes with animals and genre scenes. – 2 paintings
*
Willem van de Velde the Younger
Willem van de Velde the Younger (18 December 1633 (baptised)6 April 1707) was a Dutch marine painter, the son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, who also specialised in maritime art. His brother, Adriaen van de Velde, was a landscape painter.
...
– 8 paintings
*
Jan Weenix – 13 paintings
:
Philips Wouwerman
Philips Wouwerman (also Wouwermans) (24 May 1619 (baptized) – 19 May 1668) was a Dutch painter of hunting, landscape and battle scenes.
Life and work
Philips Wouwerman was one of the most versatile and prolific artists of the Dutch Golden Ag ...
– 6 paintings
File:Aelbert Cuyp Avenue at Meerdervoort.jpg, Aelbert Cuyp – ''The Avenue at Meerdervoort'', 1650–1652
File:Cavalier soldier Hals-1624x.jpg, Frans Hals
Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem.
Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century grou ...
– ''The Laughing Cavalier
The ''Laughing Cavalier'' (1624) is a portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals in the Wallace Collection in London, which has been described as "one of the most brilliant of all Baroque portraits". The title is an invention of the Vi ...
'', 1624
File:Jan Davidsz de Heem 004.jpg, Jan Davidsz de Heem
Jan Davidsz. de Heem or in-full ''Jan Davidszoon de Heem'', also called ''Johannes de Heem'' or ''Johannes van Antwerpen'' or ''Jan Davidsz de Hem'' (c. 17 April 1606 in Utrecht – before 26 April 1684 in Antwerp), was a still life painter wh ...
– ''Still life with Lobster'', 1643
File:Nicolaes Maes - The Listening Housewife - Wallace.jpg, Nicolaes Maes
Nicolaes Maes (January 1634December 1693 (buried 24 December 1693)) was a Dutch painter known for his genre scenes, portraits, religious compositions and the occasional still life. A pupil of Rembrandt in Amsterdam, he returned to work in his ...
– ''The Listening Housewife'', 1656
File:Rembrandt - The Artist's Son Titus - WGA19171.jpg, Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
– ''The Artist's Son Titus'', c. 1657
File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 033.jpg, Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
– ''The Good Samaritan'', 1630
''English School''
:*
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
– 2 paintings
:*
John Hoppner – 1 painting
:*
Sir Edwin Landseer
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. However, his best-known works are the lion sculptures at the bas ...
– 4 paintings
:*
Thomas Lawrence – 5 paintings
:*
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
– 12 paintings
:*
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...
– 4 paintings
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mrs. Mary Robinson ("Perdita") - WGA08417.jpg, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
– '' Mrs Mary Robinson (Perdita)'', c. 1781
''Flemish School''
:*
Hans Memling – 1 painting
:*
Pieter Pourbus – 1 painting
:*
Pourbus the Elder, Frans – 1 painting
:*
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...
– 9 paintings
:*
David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile ar ...
– 9 paintings
:*
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh ...
– 4 paintings
File:Adriaen Brouwer - A Boor Asleep.jpg, Adriaen Brouwer – ''Sleeping peasant'', 1630–1638
File:Anthonis van Dyck 031.jpg, Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh ...
– ''Portrait of Philippe Le Roy'', 1630
File:Anthonis van Dyck 051.jpg, Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh ...
– '' The Shepherd Paris'', c. 1628
File:Jacob Jordaens, An Allegory of Fruitfulness, 1620-29.jpg, Jacob Jordaens
Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, he was the leading ...
– ''An Allegory of Fruitfulness'', 1620–1629
File:Peter Paul Rubens - Christ's Charge to Peter.jpg, Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...
– ''Christ's Charge to Peter'', c. 1616
File:Peter Paul Rubens - Landscape with a Rainbow - WGA20411.jpg, Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...
– ''Landscape with a Rainbow'', c. 1638
''French School:''
*
François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
– 17 paintings (one of the largest holdings of his works in the world)
*
Philippe de Champaigne – 4 paintings
*
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast ...
– 1 painting
*
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...
– 2 paintings including ''
The Execution of the Doge Marino Faliero
''The Execution of the Doge Marino Faliero'' is an oil painting on canvas of 1826 by the French Romantic artist Eugène Delacroix, inspired by the 1821 play ''Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice'' by Lord Byron, which in turn was based upon events in ...
''
*
Hippolyte Delaroche
Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (17 July 1797 – 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subjects from English ...
– 12 paintings
*
Gaspard Dughet – 1 painting
*
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ...
– 8 paintings including his masterpiece, Lady with a Swing
*
Théodore Géricault – 2 paintings
*
Jean-Baptiste Greuze – 19 paintings
*
Nicolas Lancret – 11 paintings
*
François Lemoyne – 2 paintings
*
Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
– 1 painting
*
Jean-Marc Nattier – 3 paintings
*
Jean-Baptiste Oudry
Jean-Baptiste Oudry (; 17 March 1686 – 30 April 1755) was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game. His son, Jacques- ...
– 7 paintings
*
Jean-Baptiste Pater
Jean-Baptiste Pater (December 29, 1695 – July 25, 1736) was a French rococo painter.
Born in Valenciennes, Pater was the son of sculptor Antoine Pater and studied under him before becoming a student of painter Jean-Baptiste Guide. Pater then m ...
– 13 paintings
*
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...
– 1 painting
*
Jean-François de Troy – 2 paintings
*
Claude-Joseph Vernet
Claude-Joseph Vernet (14 August 17143 December 1789) was a French painter. His son, Antoine Charles Horace Vernet, was also a painter.
Life and work
Vernet was born in Avignon. When only fourteen years of age he aided his father, Antoine Vernet ...
– 2 paintings
*
Horace Vernet – 30 paintings
*
Jean-Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
– 8 paintings (the 3rd largest holdings in the world)
File:François Boucher 017.jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
– ''Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rem ...
'', 1759
File:BoucherFrancois MarsEtVenus.jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
– ''Mars and Venus''
File:Francois Boucher lever du soleil wallace collection.jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
– '' The Rising of the Sun'', 1753
File:Fragonard musical.jpg, Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ...
– ''The Musical Contest'', 1754–55
File:Fragonard, The Swing.jpg, Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ...
– '' The Swing'', 1767
File:Jean-Marc Nattier, The Comtesse de Tillières (1750; before retouching) - 02.jpg, Jean-Marc Nattier – ''The Comtesse de Tillières'', 1750
File:Mademoiselle de Clermont en Sultane.jpg, Jean-Marc Nattier – '' Mademoiselle de Clermont'' ''as a Sultana'', 1733
File:The dance to the music of time c. 1640.jpg, Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...
– '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', c. 1634–1636
File:Antoine Watteau 059.jpg, Antoine Watteau – ''A Lady at her Toilet'', c. 1716–18)
File:Jean-Antoine Watteau, The Halt during the Chase (c. 1718–1720).jpg, Jean-Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
– ''The Halt during the Chase'', c. 1718–1720
''Italian School''
*
Francesco Albani
Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 – 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter who was active in Bologna (1591–1600), Rome (1600–1609), Bologna (1609), Viterbo (1609–1610), Bologna (1610), Rome (1610–1617), ...
– 1 painting
*
Canaletto, (Giovanni Antonio Canal) – 8 paintings
*
Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano
Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517), was an Italian Renaissance painter, who mostly worked in Venice. He can be considered part of the Venetian school, though he was also influenced by Antonello da ...
– 2 paintings
*
Carlo Crivelli
Carlo Crivelli ( Venice, c. 1430 – Ascoli Piceno, c. 1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivar ...
– 1 painting
*
(Domenichino) – 1 painting
*
Francesco Guardi
Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...
– 9 paintings
*
Bernardino Luini – 4 paintings
*
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19t ...
– 1 painting (one of the finest Rosas in existence)
*
Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto (, , ; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, painter of altar-pieces ...
– 1 painting
*
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
(Tiziano Vecelli) – 2 paintings including one of the six Poise's commissioned on Philip II of Spain
*
Sassoferrato
Sassoferrato is a town and '' comune'' of the province of Ancona in the Marche region of central-eastern Italy.
History
To the south of the town lie the ruins of the ancient Sentinum, on the Via Flaminia. The castle above the town is menti ...
– 3 paintings
File:Giovanni Antonio Canal, il Canaletto - Venice - The Bacino from the Giudecca - WGA03920.jpg, Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) – ''The Bacino from the Giudecca, Venice'', c. 1740
File:Francesco Guardi - Venice - The Dogana with the Giudecca - WGA10870.jpg, Francesco Guardi
Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...
– ''The Dogana with the Giudecca'', c. 1775
File:Perseo y Andrómeda, por Tiziano.jpg, Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
– '' Perseus and Andromeda'', c. 1554–1556
''Spanish School''
:*
Alonso Cano – 1 painting
:*
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contempora ...
– 9 paintings (one of the largest holdings of his works in the world)
:*
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...
– 2 paintings including ''Lady with a Fan'', one of the artist's greatest paintings
File:Bartolome murillo-desposorios virgen.jpg, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contempora ...
– ''Marriage of the Virgin'', 1670
File:La dama del abanico, por Diego Velázquez.jpg, Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...
– '' Lady with a Fan'', c. 1638–39
Ceramics
There are fine examples of porcelain on display, including
Meissen porcelain, and one of the world's major collections of 18th-century
Sèvres porcelain
Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for i ...
. It includes 137 vases, 80 tea wares, 67 useful wares, 3 biscuit figures and 130 plaques (mostly on furniture), and was acquired by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace between c. 1802–75.
Arms and armour
, Dr.
Tobias Capwell is Curator of the Arms and Armour collection.
File:Visored Bascinet.jpg, alt=A medieval helmet with a pointed nose and narrow eye slits., Visored Bascinet, probably French, c. 1390-1410
File:Armour for Man and Horse.jpg, alt=A horse mounted knight with right hand and sword raised., Armour for Man and Horse, Landshut, c. 1480
File:Wallace Sallet 2 - Wallace Collection A81.jpg, Sallet, Unknown Artist / Maker Germany Date: c. 1490
File:Painted Sallet.jpg, alt=A painted knight's helmet depicting an intimidating mythical beast with large fangs., Painted Sallet depicting a mythical beast, c. 1500
File:Sallet 1 - Wallace Collection A85.jpg, Sallet, Unknown Artist / Maker Germany Date: c. 1510
File:Close-helmet - Wallace Collection A158.jpg, Close-helmet, Unknown Artist / Maker Nuremberg, Germany Date: c. 1530
File:Wallace armor 1.jpg, alt=Shoulders and head of a heavily fluted suit of armour., Fluted Armour in the Maximilian Style, c. 1612 and 19th century
Furniture
The Wallace Collection holds one of the most important collections of French furniture in the UK, and ranks alongside the
Musée du Louvre, the
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
,
Waddesdon Manor, the collections of the
Duke of Buccleuch, the
Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and ...
and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
as one of the greatest and most celebrated in the world.
[''The Burlington Magazine'', Vol. 139, No. 1136 (Nov., 1997), pp. 792–794] Totalling more than five hundred pieces, the collection consists largely of 18th-century French furniture but also includes some significant pieces of 19th-century French furniture, as well as interesting Italian furniture and a few English and German pieces. The collection ranges from cabinet furniture, much of which is
veneered with brass and turtleshell
marquetry (commonly known as
"Boulle" marquetry) or with wood marquetry, to seat furniture, clocks and barometers,
gilt-bronze items including mounted porcelain and hardstones, mantelpieces, mirrors, boxes and pedestals. One highlight of the collection is the major collection of furniture attributed to
André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732), perhaps the best-known cabinet-maker ever to have lived.
''
Joseph Baumhauer Joseph Baumhauer (died 22 March 1772) was a prominent Parisian ''ébéniste'', one of several of German extraction. Having worked for some years as a journeyman for the German-born ''ébéniste'' François Reizell, he was appointed ''ébéniste priv ...
'' – 1 item:
:*Bas d'armoire, c. 1765–1770
''
André-Charles Boulle'' – 22 items:
:*Armoire, c. 1695;
:*Armoire, c. 1700;
:*Armoire, c. 1700;
:*Armoire, c. 1715;
:*Bureau plat, c. 1700–1710;
:*Cabinet avec son pied, c. 1667;
:*Cartonnier et pendule, c. 1715;
:*Commode, c. 1710;
:*Paire de grande table, c. 1705;
:*Mantle clock, c. 1715;
:*Mantle clock, c. 1726;
:*Médaillier, c. 1710–1720;
:*Miroir de toilette, c. 1713, (delivered to the Duchesse de Berry);
:*Paire de coffre de toilette, c. 1700;
:*Paire de torchéres, c. 1700–1710;
:*Pendule et gaine, c. 1712–1720;
:*Pendule et gaine, c. 1720–1725;
:*Table à mettre dans un trumeau, c. 1705;
''
Martin Carlin
Martin Carlin (c. 1730–1785) was a Parisian ''ébéniste'' (cabinet-maker), born at Freiburg, who was received as Master ''Ébéniste'' at Paris on 30 July 1766. Renowned for his "graceful furniture mounted with Sèvres porcelain", Carlin fed in ...
'' – 4 items:
:*Paire de Encoignures, c. 1772;
:*Secrétaire à abattant, c. 1775;
:*Table en secrétaire, c. 1783;
''
Adrien Delorme'' – 2 items:
:*Paire de bibliothèque basse
''
Étienne Doirat
Étienne Doirat (c. 1675-1732) was a French furniture designer.
Early life
Étienne Doirat was born circa 1675. His family had been ébénistes in Paris since the early 1600s.
Career
Doirat designed "commodes, armoires, corner cupboards, and tab ...
'' – 1 item:
:*Commode, c. 1720;
''Étienne Levasseur'' – 5 items;
:*Grande Bibliothèque, c. 1775;
:*Paire de bibliothèque basse, c. 1775
:*Paire de meubles à hauteur de'appui, c. 1775
''Alexandre-Jean Oppenord'' – 3 items:
:*Bureau plat, 1710;
:*Commode, c. 1695;
:*Écritoire, c. 1710;
''
Jean Henri Riesener'' – 10 items:
:*Commode, delivered to Marie-Antoinette's ''cabinet intérieur de la reine'' at Versailles, c. 1780;
:*Commode, delivered to Marie-Antoinette for Chateau de Marly, c. 1782;
:*Encoignure, delivered to Marie-Antoinette's ''cabinet intérieur'' at Versailles, c. 1783;
:*Secrétaire à abattant, delivered to Marie-Antoinette's ''cabinet intérieur'' at Versailles, c. 1783;
:*Secrétaire à abattant, delivered to Marie-Antoinette's ''Petit Triannon'' at Versailles, c. 1783;
:*Secrétaire à abattant, delivered to Marie-Antoinette's ''cabinet intérieur'' at Versailles, c. 1780;
:*Bureau à cylindre, delivered to the comte d'Orsay for the Hôtel d'Orsay, c. 1774;
:*Bureau à cylindre, c. 1785;
:*Secrétaire à abattant, c. 1780–1784;
:*Table de toilette, c. 1780–1784;
''Bernard I Van Risen Burgh'' – 1 item:
:*Bureau plat, c. 1719
''Nicolas Sageot'' – 2 items:
:*Commode, c.1700;
:*Commode, c.1710;
''
Adam Weisweiler
Adam Weisweiler (c.1750 — after 1810) was a pre-eminent French master cabinetmaker (''ébéniste'') in the Louis XVI period, working in Paris.
Weisweiler is said to have been born at Neuwied-am-Rhein and to have received his early training in ...
'' – 4 items:
:*Paire de meubles à hauteur de'appui, c. 1780
:*Paire de meubles à hauteur de'appui, c. 1785–1790
Transport connections
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
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