WALLACE COLLECTION Oriental Room, London UK

[Gavin Nugent]

I am hungry for more Alex, how goes your next series of pics?

Best

Gav

[Lee]

What a fabulous photo of one of my favorite items in the Wallace collection! The reflections of the windows really bring the ambiance of this museum back to me - and I visit these galleries every time I visit London.

This sword is briefly discussed in: Oakeshott, R. Ewart, "Old Wine in New Bottles," Park Lane Arms Fair Catalogue 8 (1991), p. 18 - 21. Mr. Oakeshott dates the hilt as c. 1690 and the blade as a century earlier (the catalog dates it as possibly early 15th century); much of Mr. Oakeshott's discussion is centered upon the incompletely resolved question of whether the blade is of Spanish or German origin. The catalog describes the blade as 37 1/2 inches in length by 2 1/2 inches width at the hilt.

Even though much of the collection is ultra-richly decorated early 19th century, Wallace's buyers also acquired some really fine earlier examples!

There are a number of really fine European medieval swords in the next room...

[carlitobrigante]

hi went recently, i must have been in there for about 4 hours, although the first hour was spent trying to pick jaw back up off the floor

some pics of my own unfortunately nowhere near as good as the ones above..

One of the worlds finest collections for sure.

[Nathaniel]

carlitobrigante, thanks for the additional photos....disappointed though...no Dha? Love to plan a trip to the UK sometime... allot of nice arms collections there....

[Nathaniel]

Holy man! I just saw the 2nd set of pictures Alex took on the 1st page...the pieces from China, Tibet, Butan and more Indo/Ceyon pieces... wow...wow...wow...Wallace had some fantastic taste!!! Stunning craftsmanship!

[carlitobrigante]

hi mate, now i think about it there wasnt a single dha there that i remember seeing?

If you think the pics are good wait till you go in the flesh, i went in on a weekday morning and pretty much had the whole exhibit to myself.

Went afterwards to the British museum which was just as awe inspiring.

Next visit will be to the Victoria & Albert museum and the tower armourys..

[Battara]

Great pictures. Especially love the yataghans - that one covered in gems is gorgeous!

[Chris Evans]

Hi Alex,

Thanks so much for sharing - Wonderful photos.

Cheers
Chris

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by ALEX

For those who have not had a chance to see a Wallace Collection, here is a brief photo guide of it's splendid Oriental room. As evident by the quality and expert compilation of various weapons - it's a real treat for any collector. Needless to say, the Collection has an amazing array of European arms and armour (3 more rooms), paintings and other works of art. The arms in Oriental room are mostly Indian, but there are plenty of Persian, Turkish and some Caucasian specimens. Hope you'll enjoy the pictures. As you know the full catalogue is planned to be published, but it may be a while until done.

Salaams Alex ~ Your pictures of the Wallace are superb and I hope you don't mind if I cross reference this thread to others for example the Kastane, Tulvar etc etc and by way of a thread bump.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Shimmerxxx]

Excellent photos. I know from experience that this isn't the easiest place to shoot due to the low light and reflections.

I'll take a look through my last set of photos and see if any I have compliment the above, although I fear the quality may not be comparable.

Regards

Steve

[Shimmerxxx]

Here's my first set. Sorry if I have posted some of these photos before, I belong to several forums and it's hard to keep track of which photos I've posted where!

As you can no doubt tell I have paid especial attention to the katars as they are one of my favourite weapons.

[Shimmerxxx]

And here's the second part, enjoy!

[Tatyana Dianova]

Great photos Steve! Thank you a lot for sharing!!!

[VANDERNOTTE]

alex
tanks for the pic,a dream for any collector
regard
jacques

[spiral]

Thanks, Steve, Alex, Shimmerxxx erc.. Truly pieces to aspire to....

Spiral

[ariel]

I remember being there and having fantasies about nighttime... black balaclavas.... lock picks.... getaway cars....
To my taste, this is by far the best Oriental collection, with no average quality pieces, just the elite.

From time to time I hear rumors about Wallace publishing a full catalogue of their Oriental Room. Have you heard anything? Or is it just another of my fantasies?

One thing that surprised me a lot was the virtually complete absense of wootz patterns: all blades were brilliantly polished but not etched. The same is true abour the catalogue of the Dresden Turkish Chamber. Obviously, that must be a philosophy of the museum: etching is a controlled rusting, and they must have made a conservation decision.

[David]

Great collection! I hope you guys don't mind if i move a couple of your images over to the Keris Forum.

[Spunjer]

Holy Cow!!!
thanks for sharing

[Shimmerxxx]

I was there earlier today snapping the pieces I missed last time. Expect more photos soon.

I have heard rumours of a catalogue of their Oriental Room, but there isn't currently one available as far as I know. They certainly didn't have a copy in the museum shop.

[Shimmerxxx]

Here's my latest batch of photos. I've noticed the axe-type weapons haven't received much coverage so I've concentrated a little more on them this time.

[Shimmerxxx]

Oh, I've been working on making my photos look a little sexier too...

[Shimmerxxx]

I've been asking around about a catalogue of the Oriental Weapons at the Wallace Collection. Nothing so far, but they are working on a project called Wallace Live which aims to provide an online catalogue for ever piece in the museum.

It's in it's very earlier stages at the moment but you can take a peek by following the below link:
http://wallacelive.wallacecollection...umber_S|51846]

I've suggested that they use the specific name for the classification of weapons rather than just the generic name, otherwise they will end up with pages and pages of entries for "dagger" or "sword".

[Sylektis]

Enjoy them.

[Sylektis]

More...

[Sylektis]

Third Batch

[Sylektis]

Batch 1

[Sylektis]

2nd