Description
The Wallace Collection, one of the most valuable art collections ever presented to the nation by a private person, is housed in 25 galleries of a mansion built for the Duke of Manchester in 1776-88 which, in spite of much subsequent alteration, still gives an excellent impression of the appearance of a great town house of the period. The basis of the collection was laid by the third and fourth Marquesses of Hertford. The son of the fourth Marquess, Sir Richard Wallace, added to the collection, which was bequeathed to the nation by his widow and opened to the public in 1900. Since then nothing has been changed, for it was a condition of the bequest that the collection should be kept intact, "unmixed with other objects of art". The collection contains an extraordinarily wide range of works of the highest quality in many different genres. Many of the rooms have pieces by the celebrated French furniture designers Boulle (1642-1732), Cressent (1685-1768) and Riesener (1734-1806).
Hobbies & Activities category: Paintings, art collections;  Furniture display;  Glass, porcelain, pottery exhibit;  Gold, silver, metalworking exhibit;  Major world-scale museum
Wallace Collection Highlights

Wallace Collection Tour

Rooms 1 & 2

French furniture by Boulle; Sèvres porcelain; paintings by Lawrence ("George IV", "Countess of Blessington").

Rooms 3 & 4

Italian majolica of the Renaissance period, including
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Address
The Wallace Collection
Hertford House
Manchester Square
London W1M 6BN
United Kingdom
Hours
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Open10:0010:0010:0010:0010:0010:0014:00
Closed17:0017:0017:0017:0017:0017:0017:00
Always closed on:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Good Friday - Christian
May Day / Labor Day (May 1)
Christmas - Christian (December 25)
Christmas Eve - Christian (December 24)
Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26)
Cost
FREE
Disabled
Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
Facilities
Gift shop
Transit
Underground: Bond Street; Bus: 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16A, 23, 30, 73, 74, 82, 94, 98, 113, 135, 137, 137A, 139, 159, 274
Attractions Near Wallace Collection, London