Wallace Collection

Wallace Collection, London.
National museum consisting of the collection built up in the 18th and 19th centuries by the Seymour-Conway family, earls and later marquesses of Hertford; it was bequeathed to the nation in 1897 by Lady Wallace, widow of Sir Richard Wallace, the illegitimate son of the 4th marquess of Hertford, and opened to the public in 1900. It is located in Hertford House, the former London residence of the family. The collection, the largest of its date to be preserved intact, reflects the tastes of various members of the family, but particularly of the 4th marquess (Richard Seymour-Conway, 1800–70) and his son Sir Richard Wallace (1819–90), who spent much of their lives in Paris. The marquess bought most of the superb representation of 18th-century French art (furniture as well as paintings) that is the collection's chief glory; Sir Richard added much Renaissance decorative art and the magnificent collection of armour, rivalled in Britain only by that in the Royal Armouries. Other areas in which the Wallace Collection is particularly rich are 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting (its most famous exhibit is Frans Hals's The Laughing Cavalier); 18th-century English portraits; and the works of Bonington (the best representation anywhere). In 2000, marking the Wallace Collection's centenary, an extension to the building was opened, created partly by glazing over what had been the central courtyard.