Bournemouth’s Russell-Cotes Museum was such a lovely surprise. I’d put it on my list of things to do whilst I was in Bournemouth just because it was a thing to do. I didn’t know what to expect from it, but fortunately that has never stopped me wanting to explore somewhere new. I knew it was a museum and I knew it was in an old house, both things I like, so I was expecting to enjoy it. What I wasn’t expecting was to be so completely wowed by it.
I walked round with eyes wide, jaw on the floor, and finger clicking away on my phone taking a zillion pictures. None of which really do it justice because it’s one of those places you have to see with your own eyes to believe.
The Russell-Cotes Museum is a large house on a cliff overlooking the sea. Wealthy owner of the Royal Bath Hotel, Merton Russell-Cotes, had the house which was originally known as East Cliff House built in the hotel grounds to give to his wife Annie as a birthday present in 1901.
All turrets and balconies on the outside, the inside is even more fantastical. They filled the place with arts and treasures from all over the world and saw it as a living museum, frequently showing visitors round and formalising it as a museum in 1907 whilst they still lived there. After their deaths, Bournemouth Council took over the running of the museum and it re-opened as the Russell-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery in 1922.
The main hall is a double-height large room in the style of an Italian courtyard with a grand piano and Arabesque fountain. Japanese influences abound and the space is filled with sculptures, paintings and suits of armour.
Looking up, the sun and the twelve signs of the zodiac can be seen in the stained-glass skylight. This is a replica as the original was destroyed during a bombing raid in WWII.
Many paintings are displayed on the staircase and on the balcony overlooking the main hall. This was the main gallery in the early days of the house and the works were often rotated as it was impossible to display them all at once.
I particularly liked these two sculptures. I love the detail in George Bernard Shaw’s expression. I can relate to this as it’s often how I feel listening to the news of when I hear of ridiculous things in my day job. I like the Edwin Landseer because he looks absorbed in his book.
This is the Moorish Alcove. The bust of Othello is by Pietro Calvi and was created from marble and bronze around 1881. It’s said to look like Ira Frederick Aldridge, a Black American actor who was known for playing Othello in Europe in the 1800s. He was the son of a liberated slave who moved to Europe to escape prejudice. He was only 17 when he first performed Shakespeare in Coventry. He went on to play in Stratford-upon-Avon, becoming the first black actor to do so.
This is known as the yellow room. It was originally Annie’s bedroom and is now used to display many objects from the museum’s world cultural collections. Annie and Merton were widely travelled and collected many artefacts and curios on their trips. These include artefacts from, and paintings depicting, the Australian aborigine and New Zealand Maori cultures, among others.
It’s important to look up as well as around as the ceilings are just as impressive as everything else. Most of them are painted and have so much detail.
Below you can see a picture of the Irving Room. So called because it is a kind of museum in it’s own right. It’s dedicated to Sir Henry Irving who was a well-known actor in the 18oos. He performed at London’s Lyceum and acted alongside other big names of the time such as Dame Ellen Terry. As a theatre manager he is credited with being the person who first came up with the idea of dimming the lights in a theatre so the stage would be highlighted. Bram Stoker was his stage manager and apparently Irving was the inspiration for Dracula. I’m not sure how he inspired the gothic novel with the infamous character but I hope it wasn’t to do with any personal tendencies of his own!
Irving was a regular guest at the Royal Bath Hotel and so got to know Merton and Annie. Merton collected many artefacts from Irving’s career, including the ‘human’ skull used in Hamlet. He bought from auctions and was given donations and established the Irving Museum in what used to be the library.
In various parts of the house there are lovely sitting places (a few of which you’re even allowed to sit on) in front of big windows overlooking the sea. The windows all have a gauze covering now to prevent light damage to the art works but if you stand close to them you can still appreciate the views.
By 1916 the art collection had really outgrown the house, so Annie had a large extension built specifically to function as an art gallery. This also helped with the transition of the house from home to public building. It took a while to complete due to labour shortages caused by the First World War, but the galleries finally opened in 1919 with Princess Beatrice cutting the ribbons.
The intention had been for four large galleries but only three were completed. Later a smaller fourth gallery was added by Merton and Annie’s children.
You can find out lot more about the different rooms and works of art in this (83 page!) PDF produced by the Russell-Cotes Museum.
The main site for the Russell-Cotes Museum is here.
The Russell-Cotes Museum really was a wonderful surprise. I could have spent far longer than one afternoon in there. The gardens are lovely too, but I didn’t get nearly enough time to explore them. I’d love to go back and I highly recommend you make time for a visit if you find yourself in Bournemouth.
So what do you think? Is the Russell-Cotes Museum somewhere you’d like to go? Have you already been? Can you recommend any other places like this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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