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Mount Stuart, a Victorian Gothic-Revival mansion on the Scottish Isle of Bute, is home to one of the UK’s foremost private collections of fine and decorative art. The core was formed in the late eighteenth century by John Stuart, third Earl of Bute (1713-1792). It was regarded as the best collection of seventeenth century-Dutch paintings to have been formed in Britain before the French Revolution.
While Mount Stuart continues to be the ancestral seat of the Crichton-Stuart family, the building itself is now operated by a charitable trust and has been open to the public since 1995. Today, the Bute Collection contains more than 200 paintings believed to be the personal acquisitions of the third Earl, including 112 Dutch and Flemish works. Highlights from this outstanding group include Pieter de Hooch, Jan Steen, Master of Alkmaar, David Teniers the Younger, Jacob van Ruisdael, Aert van der Neer, Willem van Haecht, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Aelbert Cuyp, Cornelis Pietersz Bega, Jacob Jordaens and Joos van Cleve.
Jessica Insley, Curator of Fine and Decorative Art, Mount Stuart Trust (June 2024)
Related CODART publications
Dr. Christian Tico Seifert, “Masterpieces from Mount Stuart – The Bute Collection”, CODARTfeatures, September 2012.