221b Baker Street
THE SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM
Yo. This is the post of photos from when I went with sazzat to the SH Museum in London back in May. (That long ago, already?!)
We were allowed to take photos of whatever we wanted, so I took a lot. Not all of them came out brilliantly: sometimes cos my hands were shaking from excitement, sometimes because of the lighting, sometimes because there was a glass cabinet in the way. I don't claim to be an expert photographer: I just point and click.
There are a LOT of photos here - close to forty - so, not dial-up safe. Like I said before, there was a great attention to detail so I've put in lots of little notes about things.
(The above photo is the exterior of 221b. The right-hand door leads into the shop; the left-hand door into the house, guarded by the, ahem, Very-Nice-Looking policeman in his Victorian garb. It was a boiling hot day, hence why he'd stripped down to his rolled-up shirt-sleeves. Normally he's dressed like this. And, as a side-note, the ladies working in the shop were dressed as Victorian maids.)
The first floor: the sitting room. Yes, that's Doctor Watson. He was a very cheery chap. He's sitting in his armchair, the other one being Holmes', and behind him is the adjoining door to Holmes' bedroom.
Watson's desk, with his medical bag just visible on the chair (with his initials on). Various items on his desk: cigarette box (left-hand corner); hand-bell (top lh corner), which he rang several times while we were there; pair of elephant statuettes, model ship, and big hourglass (all along top row); small model cannon (middle row, beneath hourglass); telescope (centre).
The bullet holes. On the wall opposite the fireplace. Beneath them, a rack of pipes.
Dinner table set for two, in the corner by the window.
Holmes' violin, resting on sheet music ("Gypsy Dances"). Behind it, lots more pipes. Holmes' desk, with various chemical apparatus.
The occasional table in between the armchairs with Holmes' and Watson's hats, another pipe, and a magnifying glass.
Looking back into the sitting room from Holmes' bedroom. The dining table is in the corner where those people are. Holmes' desk is just out of sight on the lh side. That dresser against the wall in the centre there held a view trivial objects like decanters of (if I remember correctly) brandy and whiskey.
From Holmes' bedroom again. You can just make out his violin & desk in the background. I'm pretty sure the round-headed brown stick leaning against the lh side of the fireplace is a cane. On the mantelpiece (lower shelf) is the Persian slipper, and what I'm pretty sure is a pair of wick-trimmers...; and (upper shelf) letters stuck in with a knife (it is hard to pick out), and a bust of Queen Victoria.
Holmes' bedroom! View from the door. Not particularly exciting... wash-stand, shaving mirror, dresser, freaky photos on the wall.
Looking back at the room -- the bed! Ha! I would like to point out that this is the only bed in the whole house. Yep, Watson doesn't have a bed. Although, really, that bed doesn't look like it could withstand much kinky stuff. Either that, or it's seen far too much already. (Also, on a personal note: apart from the colours, I have a quilt just like that which my great grandmother made by candlelight.) Jacket and dressing-gown hanging up behind the bed; map of England on the wall.
Bedside table. The book open on the stand was a title on violin playing.
The books on Holmes' windowsill, including (presumably) his records of his cases for various years. ♥
Suitcase with a travelling kit: there's a brush (looks like a clothes brush to me, but I could be wrong) and various bottles and -- best of all -- the handcuffs. :D This is on Holmes' bed, by the way.
Book title: Baedeker's Switzerland.
Holmes' dressing table/vanity, including his "make up kit".
The second floor: Doctor Watson's room. On the lh side: chamber pot, mirror, brushes, barometer. Centre: cabinet containing lots of books (some of them the actual Sherlock Holmes stories, some others just Holmes-related titles; copies of The Strand (second shelf down, spine-outwards); and on the top shelf, Holmes' own publications, such as "Upon the distinction between the ashes of various tobaccos"). Rh side: what I took to be Watson's "medical" desk.
This was THE BEST book in the cabinet. :D (The picture, unfortunately, isn't brilliant - the glass & the camera didn't mix, with or without flash.) Can I just point out, in case you haven't quite connected the dots, that this is in Watson's room? XD
Watson's diary/journal/notepad, recording The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Bust of Holmes' head. (Perhaps the one used in The Empty House? It looks like it could have had a patch-up on the forehead.) Yeah, Watson keeps a bust of Holmes in his room, next to his journal.
Above the fireplace in Watson's room (his own gun?).
High up on the wall of Watson's room was this case containing various memorabilia: mainly, in the centre there, his medal. (There was also another glass cabinet of knick-knacks in Watson's room which, among other things, contained a box of dominoes and another pair of handcuffs.)
Into Mrs Hudson's room, next to Watson's. (She had a nice airy room at the front of the house, above the sitting room.) Pretty little fob-watch on the lh side; the brown-ish book poking out the back is to do with cooking; the biggest of the three bottles in the front is marked "Olde English Lavender Water"; the red book on the rh side is titled "Manners and rules of good society by a member of the aristocracy".
Shoes! Spinning wheel, and a gorgeous decorated (marquetry?) table.
Busts of Napoleon; stump in the middle containing the black pearl. Rh side of lower shelf: "Holmes' souvenirs of 'The Musgrave Ritual'".
The rugby ball! That's what happened to it! :D Mrs Hudson's obviously confiscated it.
"Bulldog revolver concealed in a bible belonging to the ex-Rev. Williamson (The Solitary Cyclist)"
Letter to Watson from Holmes. He has beautiful handwriting. "There are some fine concerts at present and Mrs Hudson has been excelling herself in consoling me with her most perfect breakfasts and a warm fire."
Close-up on the opening of that letter because, yeah, sad as it is, I squeed at it. (It ends, by the way, with "Yours in high spirits, S.H.")
LOL. Yes!
Another bust of Holmes (this one in Mrs Hudson's room... sensing a theme here, guys.)
On the next floor there were two rooms of waxworks portraying various scenes from the stories. I took a few photos but not many as I didn't find them as interesting as all the "living history" stuff. I've not included any of those photos here.
Up to the final floor, which was one tiny room right at the very top of the house. Storage for the well-used suitcases...
...And a little bathroom: sink, pitcher, more shoes! There was a loo, too.
Looking back down the stairwell towards the first-floor sitting room.
Ground floor hallway. Pretty stained glass above the doorway; hats on hooks on the wall.
Drawing of the Reichenbach Falls in the hallway, just beside the hats. Aw.
And the blue plaque on the wall outside. That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed. :D
[All these are scaled-down versions. Photos are snaggable if anyone wants them.]
Yo. This is the post of photos from when I went with sazzat to the SH Museum in London back in May. (That long ago, already?!)
We were allowed to take photos of whatever we wanted, so I took a lot. Not all of them came out brilliantly: sometimes cos my hands were shaking from excitement, sometimes because of the lighting, sometimes because there was a glass cabinet in the way. I don't claim to be an expert photographer: I just point and click.
There are a LOT of photos here - close to forty - so, not dial-up safe. Like I said before, there was a great attention to detail so I've put in lots of little notes about things.
(The above photo is the exterior of 221b. The right-hand door leads into the shop; the left-hand door into the house, guarded by the, ahem, Very-Nice-Looking policeman in his Victorian garb. It was a boiling hot day, hence why he'd stripped down to his rolled-up shirt-sleeves. Normally he's dressed like this. And, as a side-note, the ladies working in the shop were dressed as Victorian maids.)
The first floor: the sitting room. Yes, that's Doctor Watson. He was a very cheery chap. He's sitting in his armchair, the other one being Holmes', and behind him is the adjoining door to Holmes' bedroom.
Watson's desk, with his medical bag just visible on the chair (with his initials on). Various items on his desk: cigarette box (left-hand corner); hand-bell (top lh corner), which he rang several times while we were there; pair of elephant statuettes, model ship, and big hourglass (all along top row); small model cannon (middle row, beneath hourglass); telescope (centre).
The bullet holes. On the wall opposite the fireplace. Beneath them, a rack of pipes.
Dinner table set for two, in the corner by the window.
Holmes' violin, resting on sheet music ("Gypsy Dances"). Behind it, lots more pipes. Holmes' desk, with various chemical apparatus.
The occasional table in between the armchairs with Holmes' and Watson's hats, another pipe, and a magnifying glass.
Looking back into the sitting room from Holmes' bedroom. The dining table is in the corner where those people are. Holmes' desk is just out of sight on the lh side. That dresser against the wall in the centre there held a view trivial objects like decanters of (if I remember correctly) brandy and whiskey.
From Holmes' bedroom again. You can just make out his violin & desk in the background. I'm pretty sure the round-headed brown stick leaning against the lh side of the fireplace is a cane. On the mantelpiece (lower shelf) is the Persian slipper, and what I'm pretty sure is a pair of wick-trimmers...; and (upper shelf) letters stuck in with a knife (it is hard to pick out), and a bust of Queen Victoria.
Holmes' bedroom! View from the door. Not particularly exciting... wash-stand, shaving mirror, dresser, freaky photos on the wall.
Looking back at the room -- the bed! Ha! I would like to point out that this is the only bed in the whole house. Yep, Watson doesn't have a bed. Although, really, that bed doesn't look like it could withstand much kinky stuff. Either that, or it's seen far too much already. (Also, on a personal note: apart from the colours, I have a quilt just like that which my great grandmother made by candlelight.) Jacket and dressing-gown hanging up behind the bed; map of England on the wall.
Bedside table. The book open on the stand was a title on violin playing.
The books on Holmes' windowsill, including (presumably) his records of his cases for various years. ♥
Suitcase with a travelling kit: there's a brush (looks like a clothes brush to me, but I could be wrong) and various bottles and -- best of all -- the handcuffs. :D This is on Holmes' bed, by the way.
Book title: Baedeker's Switzerland.
Holmes' dressing table/vanity, including his "make up kit".
The second floor: Doctor Watson's room. On the lh side: chamber pot, mirror, brushes, barometer. Centre: cabinet containing lots of books (some of them the actual Sherlock Holmes stories, some others just Holmes-related titles; copies of The Strand (second shelf down, spine-outwards); and on the top shelf, Holmes' own publications, such as "Upon the distinction between the ashes of various tobaccos"). Rh side: what I took to be Watson's "medical" desk.
This was THE BEST book in the cabinet. :D (The picture, unfortunately, isn't brilliant - the glass & the camera didn't mix, with or without flash.) Can I just point out, in case you haven't quite connected the dots, that this is in Watson's room? XD
Watson's diary/journal/notepad, recording The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Bust of Holmes' head. (Perhaps the one used in The Empty House? It looks like it could have had a patch-up on the forehead.) Yeah, Watson keeps a bust of Holmes in his room, next to his journal.
Above the fireplace in Watson's room (his own gun?).
High up on the wall of Watson's room was this case containing various memorabilia: mainly, in the centre there, his medal. (There was also another glass cabinet of knick-knacks in Watson's room which, among other things, contained a box of dominoes and another pair of handcuffs.)
Into Mrs Hudson's room, next to Watson's. (She had a nice airy room at the front of the house, above the sitting room.) Pretty little fob-watch on the lh side; the brown-ish book poking out the back is to do with cooking; the biggest of the three bottles in the front is marked "Olde English Lavender Water"; the red book on the rh side is titled "Manners and rules of good society by a member of the aristocracy".
Shoes! Spinning wheel, and a gorgeous decorated (marquetry?) table.
Busts of Napoleon; stump in the middle containing the black pearl. Rh side of lower shelf: "Holmes' souvenirs of 'The Musgrave Ritual'".
The rugby ball! That's what happened to it! :D Mrs Hudson's obviously confiscated it.
"Bulldog revolver concealed in a bible belonging to the ex-Rev. Williamson (The Solitary Cyclist)"
Letter to Watson from Holmes. He has beautiful handwriting. "There are some fine concerts at present and Mrs Hudson has been excelling herself in consoling me with her most perfect breakfasts and a warm fire."
Close-up on the opening of that letter because, yeah, sad as it is, I squeed at it. (It ends, by the way, with "Yours in high spirits, S.H.")
LOL. Yes!
Another bust of Holmes (this one in Mrs Hudson's room... sensing a theme here, guys.)
On the next floor there were two rooms of waxworks portraying various scenes from the stories. I took a few photos but not many as I didn't find them as interesting as all the "living history" stuff. I've not included any of those photos here.
Up to the final floor, which was one tiny room right at the very top of the house. Storage for the well-used suitcases...
...And a little bathroom: sink, pitcher, more shoes! There was a loo, too.
Looking back down the stairwell towards the first-floor sitting room.
Ground floor hallway. Pretty stained glass above the doorway; hats on hooks on the wall.
Drawing of the Reichenbach Falls in the hallway, just beside the hats. Aw.
And the blue plaque on the wall outside. That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed. :D
[All these are scaled-down versions. Photos are snaggable if anyone wants them.]