Wallace Collection

Friday 27th February
Sunshine in London today, Erbie and I met Joojoo and her mother, Anne to visit the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square, where the daffodils are out already. A beautiful private art collection containing suits of armour, ceramics, including some ancient serpent majollica and some lovely 16th century turquoise Sevres. Paintings, I saw a couple of Canaletto’s Venice scenes and a young Rembrandt self portrait. A collection of strange wax reliefs in display cases under leather flaps, one has to lift to reveal, a pair of which were titled: ‘youth’ - a pretty girl, pert bosoms coquettishly displayed, the other ‘age’ – a similarly naked torso of a wizened old hag, leathery skinned and deflated somewhat.

Oliver Peyton has just opened a restaurant in the courtyard, where we stopped for tea, a lovely scone, served with a quenelle of cream, 2 types of Peyton and Byrne jam and a pot of English Breakfast for £6.50.