A magisterial collection of English Regency furniture and decorative objects

Recognized as an MFA Honorary Advisor and Eminent Benefactor, Dr. Horace Wood Brock is a renowned collector and longtime supporter of the Museum. Since 2004, he has given the MFA 75 examples of European decorative arts of exceptional quality, including a core collection of English Regency furniture and decorative objects. He has also made significant contributions to the Museum’s celebrated collection of Dutch and Flemish art, including Joos de Momper the Younger’s Mountain Landscape with Travelers (1620s) and several important examples of Delft ceramics from the 17th century.  

Trained as a mathematical economist and political philosopher, Dr. Brock has been collecting European decorative arts and drawings for decades—and assembled a singular and extraordinary collection of 17th- to early 19th-century European decorative arts and Old Master drawings and paintings. In his collecting, Dr. Brock has applied an innovative theory of aesthetics based on a set of scientific criteria that he developed. Above all, he values principles of design that emphasize harmony of proportion and the rhythmic variation of motifs. As a result of his interest in classically inspired and bold design, Dr. Brock began collecting English Regency art with special focus.  

The Regency era extended from 1811 to 1820, when George, Prince of Wales, ruled England as Prince Regent in place of the “mad” George III, his father. The Prince ascended the throne as George IV in 1820. But in the arts, “Regency” describes a style that emerged in the 1790s and flourished until George IV’s death in 1830. British architects and designers—fresh from their grand tours of Europe’s artistic and archeological centers—were inspired by the art of ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt to create a uniquely British expression that was bold, architectural and sometimes austere in its quest for a noble style. The Prince Regent himself was among the day’s great patrons, hiring many architects and designers to build and furnish his numerous residences.

From 2013 to 2025, the MFA featured many gifts from Dr. Brock’s collection in a space dedicated to the Art of the English Regency, located in the Susan Morse Hilles Gallery (152). Inspired by interior designs of the early 19th century, the gallery featured approximately 50 examples of English decorative arts from about 1795 to 1830. The works were displayed under a unique pleated fabric ceiling—consisting of 380 yards of marmalade-colored fabric—a style that became popular at the beginning of the 19th century. Inspired by ancient Rome as well as the tents of Napoleon’s military campaigns at the end of the 18th century, the square space was laid out to reflect the symmetry and order of late classical design.

Beginning in 2025, the collection is featured in new displays on the second-floor Art of Europe galleries alongside paintings, sculpture, and other decorative arts. In their new home, these extraordinary works of art find context amid other galleries featuring European decorative arts of the 17th through early 19th centuries. Highlights from the Brock Collection include rare and refined examples of works by the leading designers and craftsmen of the Regency era: Thomas Hope (1769–1831), a collector, connoisseur, and pivotal figure in the classical revival who helped define the Regency style; George Bullock (1777/78–1818), who specialized in brass and tortoiseshell marquetry, and his brother William (1773–1849); and Benjamin Vulliamy (1747–1811) and his son, Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (1780–1854), two designers favored by George III and George IV. Their creations—including elegant furniture, metalwork, period lighting fixtures and ornamental wall plaques—continue to shine brightly in the Museum’s galleries for European art.