The Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection showcases the impressive art holdings that were built over the 18th and 19th centuries and joined together by the first four marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace. Wallace's widow, Lady Wallace, donated this wealth of art and history to the British nation in 1897. Opened to the public as a museum in 1900, the Wallace Collection lives at the Hertford House, the marquesses' former residence. The Wallace Collection holds masterworks of painting, sculpture, furniture, arms and armor, and porcelain, and the institution is especially known for its 18th-century French art, oil paintings from the 14th to 19th centuries, and princely arms and armor.