A bit of culture: The Wallace Collection

After my recent post on how glorious it is in London when it's sunny, today was one of those all-too-common grey days. It reminded me of the last time it was super rainy, when instead of moping around drinking tea all day, we headed out to see the Wallace Collection in Marylebone.

The Wallace Collection is a museum in an old London townhouse, with galleries and rooms filled with art, sculptures, and paintings. All the stuff was essentially once the private collection of "the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace", the son of the 4th Marquess. (I put this in quotations because I don't actually know what a marquess is. Wikipedia tells me it is a rank below a duke but above an earl.)

Anyway, the collection was left to Britain by Sir Richard's widow in 1897. It's a pretty incredible collection, and gives a pretty good glimpse into what it must have been like to live in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The main entrance of the house. Imagine having to run down these stairs to answer the doorbell!

The light fixture above the main stairs 'sprouts' from this gilded starburst motif, with a face at its centre. 

One of the main galleries. It's expansive and spacious, but I like how there is still a homely / comfortable feeling to the room - a result, I think, of how the paintings are all crammed closely together onto the walls.

"The Laughing Cavalier" by Frans Hals, 1624. One of the highlights of the collection.

"The Lady with a Fan" by Diego Velázquez, 1640 - another highlight.

Loads of miniature paintings. These reminded me of the little school photos we used to trade with friends in junior and high school - you'd write a little message to the recipient on the back and collect the ones you received from your friends, like baseball cards. 

Cabinets full of snuff boxes and tea sets.

A closeup of the intricate, silk wallpaper.

The most ornate curtain cord tassel I've ever seen.

Another gallery.

An old, wonderful chair.

The house also has a covered courtyard, where a café now serves high tea with scones and cakes piled onto one of those cute, very English tiered cake holders!

Somewhat oddly, the Wallace Collection also houses an armoury on the main level. This family was really serious about collecting random odds and ends!

The Wallace Collection seems to be one of those places that not everyone knows about or has visited - guess it isn't as widely advertised as the National Gallery, say, or the Tate Modern (where I just got a membership, yay!). Nevertheless, it's definitely worth a visit, if only for a good ol' dose of Downton Abbey-style Britishness.