Imagine having such a large collection of porcelain antiques that you need a separate room to keep it all.
And imagine the same for silver, and you have some idea of the life of Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (1844 – 1930), sole heiress to a wealthy Swedish timber-merchant.
![The Porcelain Room](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1560/25912724924_44014a4d15_b.jpg)
![The Silver Room](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1691/26426556932_87bf8192a9_b.jpg)
Sweden is dominated by forests—and timber was big business in the 19th century. Wood was needed for fuel, construction, the iron and steel industry, shipbuilding, and pulp and paper industries. It helped transform Sweden from an agrarian society into an industrialized nation.
![1865 Portrait of Anna Fridrica Wilhelmina von Hallwyl at 21 years old](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1536/26519150715_8fc9515968_o.jpg)
Married at the age of 20, Wilhelmina’s Swiss-born husband, Count Walther von Hallwyl (1839–1921), took over the lumber business from her father, allowing Wilhelmina time to indulge her passion for collecting art and antiques.
Wilhelmina was the consummate collector. From her travels around the world, she amassed enough artifacts to fill a house. In fact, she did fill a house—the Hallwyl’s own city mansion. Even the attic had to be converted into a gallery to house her paintings.
![The Picture Gallery](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1710/26425326832_00e6fcdded_b.jpg)
Upon her death, Wilhelmina gave back to society—donating her entire house and its contents to the Swedish state. It took eight years to catalogue around 50,000 objects, covering 79 volumes in print.
![Wilhelmina von Hallwyl](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53417579694_b026c4a3c0_o.jpg)
The house remains as it was when Wilhelmina and her family occupied it. The collections of art, antiques, furniture, textiles and a whole array of everyday household objects used by the family and servants, is just how she left it.
Let us enter the world of Wilhelmina as it was in 1865 …
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1608/25912606503_6ffdd9d123_o.jpg)
She wore this dress for the oval portrait above and had been married only a few months at the time. Having traveled extensively with her parents, at 21, she already had a substantial collection of art and antiques.
![The dress Wilhelmina was wearing for the portrait of 1865](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1640/26242645490_0bf03a916c_o.jpg)
![Detail of the dress Wilhelmina was wearing for the portrait of 1865](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1585/26449383381_e6ce4b5085_h.jpg)
![Detail of the dress Wilhelmina was wearing for the portrait of 1865](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1524/26423156892_7c58e2cdf3_h.jpg)
![Detail of the dress Wilhelmina was wearing for the portrait of 1865](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1534/25912609493_218a69a4cc_h.jpg)
![Grand piano in the Hallwyl museum's large salon. Built in New York in 1896 by Steinway & Sons. Case designed by Isak Gustaf Clason and crafted by the carpenter Carl Herman Benckert.](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1580/26449387961_b6dac57e42_b.jpg)
![The Dining Room](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1687/26515478385_fe3807c67d_b.jpg)
![The parlour room](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1540/26244803400_014eb6197b_b.jpg)
![The Smoking Room](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1652/26451548101_f2e40b8714_b.jpg)
![A guest bedroom](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1696/26242647150_4aa0ee1a7a_b.jpg)
![Another bedroom](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1455/25910552144_196cee9a4e_b.jpg)
![This bedroom even has en-suite facilities](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1688/26515468125_eb31e66017_b.jpg)
![A wash and brush up](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1614/25912615463_4965fd3135_b.jpg)
![Time for tea, or perhaps snaps (same as German schnapps)](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1448/26449574811_387b35f2e2_o.jpg)
![Would Wilhelmina have sat here to read or write a letter?](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1616/26449387881_61c38deb19_b.jpg)
![The kitchen](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1562/26517645425_6e065e7fbb_b.jpg)
![19th-century baking](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1711/26451547341_46c4669610_o.jpg)
![The dumbwaiter](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1539/26492944206_9ed6e87da3_o.jpg)
![The vestibule](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1643/26244804690_ac6e4fa161_o.jpg)
![Ornate decoration in the hallway](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1570/26423147012_2e3b0d6f12_b.jpg)
![Stained glass](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1471/26242634810_71a348cf28_b.jpg)
![The main bathroom](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1553/25917297423_f26a8ea783_b.jpg)
And now for some of Wilhelmina’s curios …
![Late 1700s dog Sculpture from Luneville, France](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1507/26515479645_bfb0b756e8_b.jpg)
![Trusty Remington typewriter](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1614/26423157502_beafb87ba5_b.jpg)
![A shaving kit](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1481/25910551824_13bae3e394_b.jpg)
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1528/26515478805_4bb4a9fd95_b.jpg)
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1441/25910564014_1358fba096_b.jpg)
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1476/26423158372_1819e07002_b.jpg)
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1603/26489545776_aa1a98cb09_b.jpg)
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1630/26489545886_1a55e87377_b.jpg)
![Brooch—gold with pearls, in the form of a bird's nest on a branch with rich foliage of lobed leaves.](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1445/26520576495_9776a12460_b.jpg)
![Gift to Walther von Hallwyl on his birthday January 26, 1857 from his parents.](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1490/26454477061_d1f37f07fa_b.jpg)
![Cufflinks with case of gold enamel and rose diamonds. The "W" and "E" initials are probably for Wilhelmina and their two daughters—Ebba and Ellen. The third daughter, Irma, probably wasn't born at the time.](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53416315312_cf948c15ba_o.png)
A small sample of Wilhelmina’s art gallery …
![Portrait of a Two-Year Old Girl by Jan Cornelisz (1636)](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1648/26491712316_7290dc9bb1_h.jpg)
![Proposal by Axel Kulle. Wilhelm bought this painting directly from the artist in Paris in 1881](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1651/26244804570_d2c6f8729c_b.jpg)
![A Merry Company by Anthonie Palamedesz, 1633](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1604/25914778223_e7f2e7e7e1_b.jpg)
For a complete look at the gallery and the rest of the museum, why not take a virtual tour.
Click here for a virtual tour of the museum …
References
Wikipedia
hallwylskamuseet.se/sv