A few weeks ago I went to the Wallace Collection with my friend Suzette. This is another amazing, free museum in London.
The museum began as the private collection of Richard Seymour-Conway, the 4th Marquess of Hertford. He left it and the house to his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace, whose widow left the entire collection to the nation.
The museum opened in 1900 in Hertford House where it remains today. One condition of her will was that no object ever leave the collection, even for loan exhibitions.
The Wallace Collection has nearly 5,500 objects. It holds one of the most important collections of French furniture in the UK and ranks alongside the Louvre, the Royal Collection, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The museum is also well known for its extensive collection of 18th century French paintings and Sèvres porcelain.
The Wallace Collection armoury is considered one of the most internationally significant collections of historic personal armour. The armour is what stuck out in my memory of this museum when we came here years ago as tourists.
I recognise that a lot of these amazing museums are lost on me since I'm not very knowledgeable about art and I don't like spending hours in museums. But I love that so many museums are free here so I don't feel bad only going for a short while and coming back another time to see more.
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