Bowes Museum |
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The Bowes Museum is a hidden treasure, a jewel in the heart of beautiful Teesdale. The magnificent building stands proud in the historic market town of Barnard Castle housing internationally significant collections of fine and decorative arts.
The Bowes Museum was purpose-built as a public art gallery for John Bowes, the illegitimate son of John Bowes the 10th Earl of Strathmore, and Kinghorne, and his wife Joséphine Benoîte, Countess of Montalbo, who both died before it opened in 1892.
It was designed by the French architect Jules Pellechet in a grand French style within landscaped gardens. The building was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as “… big bold and incongruous, looking exactly like the town hall of a major provincial town in France. In scale it is just as gloriously inappropriate for the town to which it belongs (and which it gives some international fame) as in style”.
The museum contains an El Greco, paintings by Francisco Goya, Canaletto, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher and a sizable collection of decorative art, ceramics, textiles, tapestries, clocks and costumes, as well as older items from local history. A great attraction is the 18th century Silver Swan automaton, which periodically preens itself, looks round and appears to catch and swallow a fish.
Read more: Bowes Museum, official website
Read more: Wikipedia
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