Nymans, West Sussex
This collection has 4,810 items online
The collection reflects the romantic taste of Maud Messel and features many of the furnishings rescued from the fire that destroyed the house in 1947, including antique oak furniture and 17th-century tapestries. Works by artist and theatre designer Oliver Messel include theatrical props from his various productions, as well as sketches of the house and garden at Nymans and portraits of Merle Oberon and Natalie Paley. Although the outstanding botanical library was lost to the flames, there remains a significant collection of garden books, including A Garden Flora by Muriel Messel, published in 1918, which details all the plants grown at Nymans. The garden ornaments include classical statues, a Byzantine urn and Roman funerary altars.