18th Century Day

A short film from the 18th Century Day at The Wallace Collection. This was a day where the whole family could come to the Wallace to learn and take part in all aspects of 18th Century life.

Today is our annual day in the 18th-century at the Wallace Collection. It's a popular event that we run every year, attracting over 2,000 people, all different ages.

The Wallace Collection is very well known as a Collection of 18th-century works of art and this was a very famous 18th-century town house in its heyday. And we are hoping to make people feel a little bit closed to that era.

There are lots of ways in which families can engage with the Wallace Collection today, from dressing up and getting their photo taken, to learning some songs and dances from the 18th-century, to making a puppet from Commedia dell'arte or going on a treasure hunt around the museum.

We've hidden some QR codes, quick response codes, around the museum and we've been asking families to use their smart phones, to go around and find the codes, answer the questions and then they win a prize if they get all the questions correct.
I really liked it, as it was a challenge, so you had to try really hard- it was really fun!

I've been making a really cool puppet theatre- it was a battle and then there were loads of cannons, like I saw in the armoury.

We came down here and we coloured in the theatre flats and then we made puppets out of them and started putting on a little production.

I made a theatre too and it was all about a lady singing a song to a woodpecker.

They are just running around with little smiles on their faces at the moment. And the great thing is we were able to take the theatre and the puppet home with us, so it's a lovely souvenir of a wonderful day.

I'm representing sergeant in the first Foot Guards. I'm here with my corporal. There is a lot of gaming going on, we have a card table and a game called faro being played. Huge sums of gold are being wagered and we definitely want to make sure that people get safely home tonight across Hampstead Heath.

I think my favourite activity today was the event that was run by 'We are Photogirls' which is a pop up fashion studio.

I got dressed up, and then I got my face painted and then I had lots of pictures taken of me. You got to choose you dress, you got to choose what you looked like and then you got your face painted. The wig was so itchy and irritating but I just had to keep it on.

We also had a large performance taking place in the Great Gallery with music, Commedia dell'arte and some dancing.

The 18th-century costumes were very weird, as you don't normally see them, they were from a long time ago and you don't normally see people walking around like that. So it was really fascinating to see.

Today's been really successful, which is really gratifying after several months of hard work to put it all together. What is most gratifying is when you have visitors who had no idea that it was on and stumbled across it. They had intended to come here for an hour and ending up staying all day, and that's when we know we have done our job correctly.

I really like the Wallace Collection as it is one of a kind, it is very special to be here.

Saturday 18th February 2012