Sir William Burrell's former Home - a collector of European artworks


At Great Western Terrace, just off Great Western Road, we can see the grand house which was previously the residence of Sir William Burrell, the shipping magnate and philanthropist and collector of art, sculpture and tapestries. He bought the house in 1901.  The house, and terrace were designed by Alexander “Greek” Thomson (1817-1875).

Burrell collected many artworks from across continental Europe, and the various items are now housed as a collection at the Burrell Collection in Pollok Park in the South Side of Glasgow. Due to reopen in 2021, though the exact date is currently a bit uncertain due to Covid.

https://www.homesubjects.org/2019/11/26/william-burrell-domestic-display-and-gothic-things/

He made his fortune from his family shipping business and collected art all his life. 


Photos : J. Wilson

Burrell donated 6,000 pieces that he had collected to the city of Glasgow and in addition provided the city with funds to build a museum to house the collection. This led to the Burrell Collection being built in Pollok Park in the South of the City.

Sir William Burrell: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland 

An interesting connection with Estonia and Burrell is that a significant no of Burrell's vessels were acquired by the Estonian navy - not directly from Burrell but after a couple of other owners. The interesting point is there is a number of models of Burrell vessels in the Estonian Maritime Museum: 

There are no models of the Burrell vessels in Glasgow's collections; Glasgow Museums commissioned the one that was in Burrell Museum lobby.

Thank you to Martin Bellamy for this information about the ships! 


Map Reference: Eurowalk 3: West End Wander

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