On the Wallace Collection

My sleep was interrupted around midnight by the snores of an Aussie in the bunk above me. I was unwilling to rouse him as he had just arrived from Canberra via Singapore and had slept two hours in past thirty. Thankfully, the snores stopped after a bit and I returned to my dreams which were both odd and not terribly interesting.

I moseyed over to King’s Cross to get my train tickets and find some breakfast. I then had a hard time finding a bank machine able and willing to give me money.

After returning to the youth hostel, I rode over to the Wallace Collection where I spent most of the day. The items reflected the collectors and the fashions of the times which meant there was a bling element to them. I particularly wondered about the Indian weapons and armour as they were often flashy and gilded. I wondered how many of them were actually intended for use either martial or even ceremonial versus intended to be sold as knickknacks to foreigners. I also wondered how many fakes or partial fakes were in the collection. (A partial fake being an authentic item which received a later embellishment to increase its value.)

One interesting type of object was oriental porcelain objects which had been mounted in bronze by the French under either Louis XIV or XV. There was a lot of bling from Versailles owing to the French Revolutionary sales (they even had an auction poster from 1793) and francophile collectors.

I am probably being too cynical as the last owner willed it to the state and was otherwise extremely generous.

Anyway, time for sleep as I have catch a train at 7:30 which means being at the station at 7:15, etc.