If the blockbuster shows are all booked up, consider visiting some equally thrilling – though lesser known – collections in the capital, says Lucy Winstanley
There’s no disputing London has some of the biggest and best museums and galleries in the world. Institutions of archeology, culture, science, natural history – vast temples to knowledge and learning.
But it also has a wealth of small, relatively unknown collections – places hidden in the city’s backstreets and quiet corners where few people know to look. They might be overlooked in the tourist brochures by the behemoth collections of the V&A or the British Museum but these unsung treasures are the real gems in the capital’s crown.
Dennis Severs’ house, London E1
The floorboards groan beneath my feet, the wide ebony planks shifting on their aged and crooked beams. The warm amber glow of a single candle flickers over the surrounding scene: a Chinoiserie mirror draped with pearls and bedecked with thick plumes sits atop a beauty table overflowing with hairpins, hat brushes and handwritten letters.
From the shadows, other feminine touches emerge – a silk housecoat is draped over a richly embroidered screen, heavy silk damask swags envelops an ornate bedstead, while a cacophony of blue and white porcelain vases tower over a carved Rococo mantelpiece on their gilded sconces. On the mantelpiece itself, a date is writ large in the centre of the carved stone: 1685.
Let me be clear: this is not a museum. It is rather a dramatic reconstruction of a time gone by, imagined with some creative licence and lashings of atmosphere. Or, as the late owner preferred to call it, it is a ‘still-life drama’ where the past is not pigeonholed into a pocket of history, but is a living, vibrant reality.
This sumptuous boudoir, and the ten-room house it lies within, is the conclusion of a several decades worth of careful on the part of artist-owner Dennis Severs. Moving into 18 Folgate Street in the late 70s, when it was a ramshackle shell of a place in a row of abandoned merchants’ houses in the then run-down Spitalfields area of the City, Severs set about restoring the house to a vision of old London, forgoing electricity and all mod-cons in order to live the life of an 18th century aesthete.
He even went so far as to create a fictive family of silk weavers to share the house with; French Huguenot émigrés named Jervis, whose presence is very much a part of the tableau.
In the gloriously extravagant boudoir, the lavishly decorated furnishings tell part of the story, yes, but it’s the subtle nods to the absent Mrs Jervis that bring the picture to life. The bed sheets are unmade, as if only just vacated; the coal in the fireplace burns warmly; a (real) boiled egg sits half-eaten on a side table, still attended by its soldiers. But the effect is not purely visual. On entering, the sound of playful laughter wanes and vanishes into the corners of the room, while the heavy scent of rosewater hangs in the air.
On the ground floor, the clatter of horses’ hooves on the pavement outside can be heard in the eating parlour where unfinished glasses of port are evidence of a recently dispersed dinner party.
Severs’ achievement is not to erect an accurate replica of a specific point in history, but to capture the spirit of a series of ages from the end of the 18th century to the close of the Victorian period.
During his lifetime he took paying visitors around the house, allowing their imagination to transplant them to another time. On his death he bequeathed the house to the Spitalfields Trust who continue to run twilight tours by candlelight.
The motto of the house is ‘you either see it or you don’t’ and visitors are asked to make their way – silently, as Severs stipulated – through the rooms, starting from the cellar. There are no information plaques to educate or inform – no details of dates, contexts or historical facts – only an astonishingly vivid incarnation of what life might have been like in the 18th century.
Government Art Collection, W1
It’s all a far cry from the sleek windowless facility that houses one of the nation’s most intriguing collections of British art. Despite being one of the largest and most diverse collections in the country, comprising works by the likes of Thomas Gainsborough, David Hockney and Damien Hirst, it is little heard of, rarely visited, and until last year, never publicly exhibited.
It is the Government Art Collection (GAC), a huge and diasporic group of works, two thirds of which are currently adorning the corridors and office walls of political power all over the world. The remaining number however are stored in an unassuming building just off the Tottenham Court Road.
Here, hidden behind the televisions and technology shop frontages, an unmarked door leads to the headquarters of the GAC, where the works not currently on display in embassies abroad or government offices at home – or those undergoing conservation work – are kept.
The British public can take a particular pride in visiting the collection, knowing that they are in fact its collective owners. Dating to 1898, when the Treasury decided to bring some order to the art already installed in government buildings and put the Office of Works in charge of purchasing suitable pictures to adorn the walls of the prime minister and other government properties, the GAC has been snapping up key works by British artists ever since.
Now comprising some 13,500 works (to put that in perspective, the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square is home to around 2,300 paintings), the collection is hugely varied, including pieces from as early as the 16th century right up to cutting edge contemporary works.
The list of artists reads like a comprehensive audit of British art over the past four centuries, from Rubens and Van Dyck (though Dutch, they both make the cut as court artists) through to 20th century masters Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and Bridget Riley. Equally as impressive as these giants of the art world though, is the range of contemporary artworks, which the curators have endeavoured to expand in recent years, and which, as well as Hirst, includes works by Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, Paula Rego, and Rachel Whiteread.
Only recently has the holding collection become accessible to the general public in a series of exhibitions at Whitechapel Art Gallery, yet arguably the most interesting way to see it is by visiting the storage centre itself on one of the organised group tours. The works may be less prettily arranged, but the tours offer an enticing glimpse behind the scenes of one of the most guarded, but expansive, collections in the country.
Petrie Museum of Egyptology, WC1
There’s something magical too about poking around in a place that resembles a dusty professor’s cabinet of curiosities. This is exactly what a visit to the Petrie Museum of Egyptology recalls. Ensconced within the ivory towers of University College London’s (UCL) Bloomsbury campus, this tiny museum contains more than 80,000 items, making it one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts anywhere in the world.
Compiled by Flinders Petrie (pronounced Pee-trie), a serious, self-taught archeologist born in 1853, the collection is the result of a lifetime spent travelling through Egypt, cataloging and collecting as he went. Like most archaeologists at the time, Petrie was an avid amateur rather than a trained professional, but his methods were far less clunky than his contemporaries. He despaired at the careless plundering of ancient sites, describing himself as a “salvage man” who was duty bound to “get all I could quickly gathered in”.
He sold his vast collection to UCL in 1913 and it is thanks to this methodical act of salvation that the museum’s glass cases are now packed with as astonishing range of relics, all with detailed date and legend.
There are some stunning pieces in the collection, including a section of Romano-Egyptian ‘mummy portraits’ – beautifully ethereal paintings on wood, highlighted with gold leaf. It also has one of the strongest collections of ancient Egyptian costume and textiles, and it’s these pieces which bring the collection to life, diminishing the distance between us and our ancient cousins: the perfectly preserved copper hand mirror, as delicate as anything a Victorian lady might have owned; the ornate bangles of Hippopotamus ivory; combs carved from bone. These deeply personal items describe a culture of women who cared no less about their appearance than their modern counterparts.
Some of the oldest Egyptian textile garments anywhere in the world are held by the collection, including an astonishing beaded dress, made entirely out of small faience tubes and fringed with tiny shells that would rattle rhythmically when the wearer moved.
Central School of Arts and Crafts, N1
In fact, the Petrie Museum is not the only university collection that is worth a visit. While Central Saint Martins is world-renowned for producing some of the world’s most famous fashion designers, its teaching is underwritten by an esteemed heritage and tradition.
The college was founded when the Central School of Arts and Crafts and the Saint Martins School of Art – both Victorian institutions – merged in 1989 and its teaching collection includes rare and stunning examples of artworks, costume, jewellery, printing, and design from each of the founding institutions. Some, like a rare John Galliano waistcoat from his first collection, or the sketches of costume designer (and tutor) Sheila Jackson for the original series of Upstairs Downstairs, are by college alumni. Others have been purchased as paradigms of their kind – like the collection of German film posters bought back by tutors in the 1920s to show pupils how it was done in Berlin.
Particularly impressive is the selection of original William Morris woodblock prints of floral patterns – early prototypes of the wallpapers which would later become ubiquitous calling cards of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Visitors can arrange a visit directly with tutors at the college, who will show them around any areas of interest. It makes for a tailor-made insight into the college’s collections, under the erudite eye of a true expert. As wildly impressive as they may be, it’s hard to imagine getting this kind of red carpet treatment at the capital’s mega-museums.
Best of the rest in London and the UK
Masonic Library and Museum, London WC2
The general public can get a glimpse inside the English headquarters of the world’s best known secret society by taking a tour of Freemasons’ Hall. Non-Masons can take a tour of the magnificent Art Deco structure stretching over two and a half acres in Covent Garden, including the Grand Temple itself – a true spectacle with it’s solid brass doors, decorative symbolism and intricate mosaic ceiling.
Spencer House , London SW1
Built in 1766, the London home of Princess Diana’s ancestors harks back to a time when England’s greatest dynasties competed to construct the most impressive house in the capital. Now it is the city’s only surviving 17th century private palace – a high watermark of neo-Classical architecture that still emanates a sense of high society pageantry.
Drawing Room, London SE1
This small but perfectly formed gallery in the only public, non-profit gallery in the UK and Europe dedicated solely to international contemporary drawing. It is open to the public only during exhibitions, which run regularly throughout the year.
Dacorum Heritage Trust, Hertfordshire
This museum store houses an astonishing 67,000 objects in a converted fire station in Berkhamsted. The items tell the story of the Dacorum region in western Hertfordshire – including towns such as Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempsted, Tring – and comprises such treasures as a 6,000-year-old axe head, Victorian embroidery samplers or a wonderful Penny Farthing bicycle.
Windsor and Royal Borough Museum, Berkshire
The museum itself, situated in Windsor’s picturesque Guildhall, makes for a pleasant enough visit, but the Museum Store – where any of the any of the 6,000 strong collection not on display are kept – is something extra special. Comprising everything from prehistoric tools to 1950s ephemera, the storage facility is open to the public on Wednesday mornings by appointment.
Warner Textile Archive, Essex
This archive of the Warner family’s textile business in Braintree, Essex tells the story of Britain’s textile industry from its beginnings in the late 1700s to the end of the 20th century. Second only to the V&A in terms of size, it holds more than 100,000 textile and wallpaper samples, paper designs and other documents, in a beautifully restored Warner & Sons mill building.
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