Museu Frederic Marès, Collecció de pipes

Visiting address

Plaça de Sant Iu 5
08002 Barcelona
Spain

+34 932 563 500

museumares@bcn.cat
www.museumares.bcn.es

History

The origin of the Museu Frederic Marès dates back to 1946. At that time, Frederic Marès offered his collection to the city of Barcelona. Frederic Marès was 51 years old at the time, and only diying nearly half a century later at the age of almost 99, he was able to keep enlarging his collections. The museum was housed on the first floor of a building on Comtes street. In the Middle Ages this building was part of the quarters of the Counts of Barcelona. The Town Hall decided to install the museum there in order to bring it into what since then has been called the Gothic Quarter, the old heart of the city. Its original Verger or courtyard garden, still remains intact.

In 1997, a museographic plan was drawn up aimed at adapting the museum to the needs of the 21st century. The construction work of remodelling, which affected the ground and the underground floor which housed sculpture, was executed in 1999 and in 2001. New was opening a temporary exhibition hall that had not existed until then.

In the third phase of this museographic project finished in 2011, the first floor was rearranged, thus completing the presentation of the sculpture collections and the main architectural features connecting the different floors of the museum. The pipe collection is one of the various collections in the Collector’s Cabinet on the first floor.

Collection

The Museu Frederic Marès is a unique collecting museum that preserves the collections assembled by its founder, sculptor Frederic Marès (1893-1991), which came to form part of the patrimony of the city of Barcelona through his donation in 1946.

Frederic Marès turned sculpture into something beyond his artistic calling. Throughout his lifetime he amassed an extensive Hispanic sculpture collection which ranged from the ancient world until the 19th century.

The Collector's Cabinet is the home to a display of tens of thousands of objects that make up a vast collection of collections that documents past lifestyles and customs, mainly from the 19th century. Apart from a fine series of tobacco pipes, you can find amusing, unique items like fans, clocks, jewellery, photographs, toys, keys, pharmacy bottles and reliquaries, all presented in an intimate atmosphere evoking Marès private universe.

Opening hours
Tuesday to Saturday:   10 am to 7 pm
Sunday and Holidays:  11 am to 8 pm
Monday, except Holidays: closed

Entry into museum halls up to 30 minutes before closing time