European Furniture, Woodwork and Interiors before 1603
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Glasgow Museums has a large and internationally significant collection of medieval and Renaissance furniture, woodwork and interior fixtures and fittings. Some of this collection was used to furnish Hutton Castle, the residence of Sir William Burrell and his family from the late 1920s. Burrell's collection was donated to Glasgow in 1944, but most of the furnishings and fittings of Hutton Castle remained in situ until Constance, Lady Burrell's death in 1961. The majority of the furniture and decorative fittings, including chairs, beds, stools, chests, cupboards, wall-panelling, wooden ceilings, choir-stalls, mantelpieces and overmantels are crafted from oak and are predominantly English in origin, with a few pieces from continental Europe. A star item in the collection is a unique ceremonial bedhead, decorated for the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves (1539/40). This is an extremely important artefact, as very few items of furniture from King Henry’s reign have survived. Near contemporary with the bedhead is an elaborately carved mantlepiece and overmantel said to come from Tudor hunting lodge at Oatlands Park, Surrey, and a fine oak dresser, made for John Wyn ap Maredudd of Gwydir Castle in North Wales. One of the earliest pieces in the collection is the ‘Bury Chest’, painted with the heraldic arms of Richard de Bury, Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Durham from 1334. Retaining much of its original decorative paintwork, the chest is an important and rare survival.
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