Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection is a national museum which displays the wonderful works of art collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Sir Richard's widow, Lady Wallace, in 1897.

Displayed at Hertford House, the main London townhouse of its former owners, the Wallace Collection presents its outstanding collections in a sumptuous but approachable manner which is an essential part of its charm.

It is probably best known for its paintings by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Hals (The Laughing Cavalier) and Velázquez and for its superb collections of eighteenth-century French paintings, porcelain, furniture and gold boxes, probably the best to be found anywhere outside France.

But there are also splendid medieval and Renaissance objects, including Limoges enamels, maiolica, glass and bronzes, as well as the finest array of princely arms and armour in Britain, featuring both European and Oriental objects.

Additional info

Our library is open to the public by appointment only.

The twenty five galleries are a feast of French 18th Century paintings, furniture and porcelain from the Courts of Louis IV & IV of France and Marie Antoinette. The Wallace is also famous for Frans Hals's Laughing Cavalier and a host of other superb Old Master Paintings, as well as the biggest collection of antique arms and armour outside the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Collection details

Archives, Decorative and Applied Art, Fine Art, Weapons and War, World Cultures

Key artists and exhibits

• Hals
• Boucher
• Canneletto
• Rubins
• Rembrandt
• Velasquez
• Van Dyke
• Reynolds
• Gainsborough
• Fragonard
• Titian
• Guardi
• Watteau
• Riesner & Boule furniture
• Sevres Porcelain