Wilhelmina's museum
Wilhelmina von Hallwyl purchased a large number of items during her life, a large part of them via various antique dealers. As the collection grew, the idea of establishing a museum grew. When the von Hallwyls moved into No. 4 Hamngatan, Wilhelmina had already decided that the house with its furnishings would also become a museum. The aim, according to her, was “to bring together a rich and diverse material for the illumination of both my own contemporary and the culture of old times.”
Work on the Hallwyl catalogue work began in 1906 under the leadership of Wilhelmina herself and lasted for many decades. The catalogue was printed between 1926 and 1956. There were 78 books printed in 110 copies.
In the catalogue there is everything in the house carefully described. The catalogue is still today a source of knowledge about the collections and a document of the times that shows the level of ambition of the work to establish the museum.
Sixty-seven different groups
The house and its furnishings are, according to Wilhelmina’s order, divided into individual groups by type of object. Group one became everything related to the building Hamngatan 4, group two office furnishings, and so on.
All objects have an individual object number where Roman numerals and Latin letters indicate what kind of object it is. Common numbers define what object it is. Thus one can read Object number XXVII:II:E.09. as this:
- XXVII = Memories of personal experiences
- II = during the life of Walther von Hallwyl after 1865
- E = Birthday and Christmas gifts from children and grandchildren, 1886-1921
- 09 = Mechanical pig and dog
