Visit the Wallace Collection during the Year of the Pig and find a surprising number of Chinese treasures hidden amongst the gilt and glamour of the French Rococo: beautiful celadon vases transformed for the European market with the addition of ornate gilt-bronze mounts and handles; pumpkin-shaped pot-pourri bowls decorated with trailing vines symbolising longevity and a French commode veneered with panels of Chinese lacquer.

Look carefully at the commode and see if you can find anything strange about the way a bird is roosting on one of the side panels.

Downstairs in the oriental armoury you can see two Chinese swords, one of which is covered with exquisite cloisonné enamel designs with a cloud dragon running up the side. A beautiful suit of Mandarin armour stands at one side of the gallery. See its soft brocaded silk tunic and hunt for dragons embroidered in gold thread..

The Wallace Collection includes 21 Japanese objects, amongst which are fine lacquer ware (including boxes and cabinets, some with panels of Japanese lacquer mounted in Europe to European taste), weapons (including a very good daisho) and other examples of smaller furniture as well as incense burners. Thanks to Gregory Irvine's 'Guide to Japanese Art Collections in the UK' for this information.

The Wallace Collection is famous for the fine quality 18th century French paintings, furniture and porcelain on display at Hertford House. Follow the links below for more detail of the French holdings.

French Fountains At The Wallace Collection

Sir Richard Wallace, last in the generation of five collectors and the illegitimate son of the Fourth Marquess of Hertford, had a close personal connection with France. He was born in London in 1818 but lived in France from the age of six and was brought up by his grandmother in Paris. As a young man he met and fell in love with Amélie-Julie-Charlotte Castelnau but his father obviously did not approve of the match and the couple did not marry until after Lord Hertford died in 1870. Wallace demonstrated his love of France by donating 50 cast iron drinking fountains to Paris, one of which is now on the front lawn at Hertford House while most of the others are still in the city’s streets and squares.

There are four different types of Wallace fountain and the one on at the front of the Wallace Collection is the most common, known as the original or “grand” model. It was designed by Charles-Auguste Lebourg, a distinguished sculptor from Nantes working in Paris, who also made a marble bust of Lady Wallace and the Fourth Marquess of Hertford, both of which remain in the Collection. The main body of the fountain has eight sides and is decorated on the four larger sides with an heraldic dolphin and trident. The four smaller sides are decorated with a scroll. Above the body are four female figures in classical style representing the virtues of Simplicity, Kindness, Sobriety and Charity. The figures hold a dome decorated in a fish scale pattern.

Sir Richard Wallace’s gift really benefited the poorer communities in Paris that did not have piped water coming into their homes. The fountains, or “wallaces” as they were commonly known, were so popular that the city authorities provided 50 more for its inhabitants. The fountains remain a memorial to a man who was more French than English in so many ways.

Learn More About French Furniture In The Wallace Collection

French, Dutch And Flemish Painting In The Wallace Collection

In the south of India in the 18th century lived the infamous warrior-king Tipu Sultan. He was known as 'The Tiger of Mysore'and the blade of his sword is decorated with Tipu's personal emblem, a beautiful and intricate gold tiger.

Come and see a magnificent gold-hilted dagger encrusted with precious jewels, from the Court of the Mughal Emperors. One of the finest and rarest of such weapons in the world, it may have belonged to Jahangir or his son Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal. Also on display is a gold-hilted sword once owned by the Sikh warrior-king Ranjit Singh, 18th-century founder of the Sikh dynasty in the Punjab. The blade is made of fabulously crafted ‘watered steel’, said by some contemporaries to be worth its weight in gold.