London
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Manchester Square
Hertford House
London W1U 3BN
+44 (0) 20 7935 0687
The Wallace Collection is home to one of the finest collections of 18th century French furniture and paintings. It has a courtyard cafe and provides special children's activities. Admission is free.
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November 21, 2008
This is what I love about London, so much great stuff is for free ( art, culture and other pleasures)The house that collection is displayed at, reminds me of a French 'petit palais' - where one of King's mistresses was waiting for him to pay her a quick visit;) In the meantime she plays the incrustated clavesin, writes another love letter on a Japaneese style table and dreams about exotic countries, looking at the portrait of the Armenian girl in a long, red dress. This place is full of little details that require more attention and curiosity. It is not that packed with people as other museums and much more intimate, with comfy chairs and sofas, where you can sit and imagine it's your p(a)lace:)
I recommend some paintings - old Venice by Canaletto, Rembrandt and collection of weapons - swords, stilettos, guns....and other dangerous toys.
October 02, 2008
If you have to take a visiting colleague (or your mum) to lunch, this place won't disappoint. It's lunch with a cultural twist and it's only a stone's throw from the bustle of Oxford Street. Quite apart from the impressive art collections - which include Frans Hals' "The Laughing Cavalier" - and the vast, plush rooms, the huge courtyard in the middle of this extremely grand London townhouse has been converted into a vast, stylish atrium housing two restaurants: one a bit posher than the other (I'd advise that you book the posher one). A 2-course lunch for two with a glass of wine each came to £77, which isn't the cheapest, I admit, but the food was lovely, the service polite and the venue quite unique.
November 19, 2007
Wow! I hadn't known much of anything about the Wallace Collection before a friend of mine asked me to join her in checking out this museum in Marylebone, but now I am itching to go back for more! The Wallace Collection sits in a grand mansion on Manchester Square not far off of Oxford Street, and has a very extensive collection that has an impressively wide range. From paintings to sculptures and from an amazing collection of intricate (and largely still functioning!) ornamental clocks to fine French porcelain, this place is pretty amazing. Plus, it's got free entry!
Make sure that you give yourself enough time if you want to be methodical about it and see everything, because there is a lot more than you might realize. After spending well over an hour on the ground floor, taking in the collections of marble busts, antique furniture, old medallions and coins and an armory that brought out the knights and squires obsessed middle schooler in me, I couldn't summon the energy to do the upstairs galleries justice and will have to return again, as the first floor consists of a lot of paintings as well as collections of jewelry and yet more delicate porcelain vessels.
I guess that the Wallace Collection isn't as unknown to the world as it was to me, but it is still a rather off the beaten path museum to take in instead of the jam-packed National Gallery or British Museum, and I'll definitely steer visiting friends towards this place when they come to London.
