Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
serving as a tranquil backdrop to the objects inside. he major part of the collection,
including the sculpture and antiques, are arranged in a fairly fluid style on the ground
floor , while a mezzanine above displays most of the paintings.
The courtyard
On entering the building, head past the information desk and shop to an airy covered
courtyard where the most striking piece, by virtue of sheer size, is the Warwick Vase , a
huge bowl containing fragments of a second-century AD vase from Emperor Hadrian's
villa in Tivoli. Next to it is a series of sinewy and naturalistic bronze casts of Rodin
sculptures , among them he Age of Bronze , A Call to Arms and the famous hinker . On
three sides of the courtyard, a trio of dark and sombre panelled rooms have been
re-erected in faithful detail from the Burrells' Hutton Castle home, their heavy
tapestries, antique furniture and fireplaces displaying the same eclectic taste as the rest
of the museum.
The ground floor
From the courtyard, go through the massive sandstone portal and door from Hornby
Castle, incorporated into the building, to the start of the Ancient Civilizations
collection - a catch-all title for Greek, Roman and earlier artefacts - which includes an
exquisite mosaic Roman cockerel from the first century BC and a 4000-year-old
Mesopotamian lion's head. he bulk of it is Egyptian, however, with rows of inscrutable
gods and kings.
Nearby, also illuminated by enormous windows, the Oriental Art collection forms
nearly a quarter of the whole display, ranging from Neolithic jades through bronze
vessels and Tang funerary horses to cloisonné. One of the earliest pieces, from around
the second century BC, is a loveable earthenware watchdog from the Han Dynasty, but
most dominant is the serene fifteenth-century Lohan (disciple of Buddha), who sits
cross-legged and contemplative against the background of a glass wall and the trees of
Pollok Park.
Burrell considered his Medieval and Post-Medieval European Art , which encompasses
silverware, glass, textiles and sculpture, to be the most valuable part of his collection.
Ranged across a maze of small galleries, the most impressive sections are the
sympathetically lit stained glass and the numerous tapestries, including the riotous
fifteenth-century Peasants Hunting Rabbits with Ferrets . Among these are a selection
from Burrell's vast fine art collection, the highlight of which is one of Rembrandt's
evocative early self-portraits.
The mezzanine
Upstairs, the cramped and comparatively gloomy mezzanine is probably the least
satisfactory section of the gallery, and not the best setting for its sparkling array of
paintings. he range of works on show does change, but it can make incongruous leaps
from a small gathering of fifteenth-century religious works to Géricault's darkly
dynamic Prancing Grey Horse and Degas's thoughtful and perceptive Portrait of Edmond
Duranty . Manet, Cézanne and Boudin are also represented.
Pollok House
2060 Pollokshaws Rd • Daily 10am-5pm • April-Oct £6.50, Nov-March free; café and gardens free year-round; NTS • Can be accessed by
train to Pollokshaws West station (not to be confused with Pollokshields West) or buses #45, #47, #48 or #57 to Pollokshaws Road
Lovely eighteenth-century Pollok House was the manor of the Pollok Park estate and
once home of the Maxwell family, local lords and owners of most of southern Glasgow
until well into the last century. Designed by William Adam in the mid-1700s, the house
is typical of its age: graciously light and sturdily built, it looks out onto the pristine
raked and parterre gardens, whose stylized daintiness contrasts with the heavy Spanish
 
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