Palazzo Falson is one of the oldest buildings still standing in Mdina. This imposing palazzo was originally a one-storey high courtyard house that was built around the first half of the 13th century. The house may have been built on the remains of an even earlier structure known as La Rocca, which probably formed part of the defensive mechanism of Mdina in Muslim times.

The ground floor façade on Villegaignon Street, with its double-serrated string course of inverted triangles with pendant balls, and centrally placed doorway with Sicilian-inspired hood-mould, belongs to the turn of the 15th century, when the palazzo was more compactly redesigned on a new orientation. The first floor was largely added and rebuilt in the course of the 15th and early 16th centuries.

The opening in 2007 of Palazzo Falson as an historic house museum fulfils the wish of its most recent owner and resident, Captain Olof Frederick Gollcher OBE (1889-1962). Captain Gollcher was born in Valletta in 1889, the son of Chevalier Gustav Gollcher (1854-1922) and Elisa née Balbi (1857-1935). Olof was a distinguished man who received a number of honours. He joined the British Army in 1914, and served in both World Wars. He was awarded the Medal of Montenegro after the First World War, and was made a captain in 1945.

In 1936 Olof became a Knight of Grace of the Grand Priory of the British Realm of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, and in 1937 he was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1938 Gollcher married Teresa Lucia née Prior (d. 1962), known as Nella, in a London Registry Office, and then in a Catholic ceremony in Rome in 1947. Nella was an officer in the Nursing Division of St John’s Ambulance Brigade, and later on became Honorary Secretary.

Olof Gollcher first purchased part of the palazzo in 1927 with his mother. The remaining portion was later acquired by him in 1938, having already inherited his mother’s share in 1935. Olof set about consolidating the once fragmented property into a home, which he renamed ‘The Norman House’.

Portrait of Olof Frederick Gollcher, Carlo Romagnoli, 1948, oil on canvas 104x79cm (detail)

Gollcher was also an artist who received his tertiary education in London, graduating as an art critic and painter. His works were exhibited at various art centres in Europe. But above all, Olof was a philanthropist and a passionate collector of objets d’art and historical items. In 1943 he proposed to donate the ‘Norman House’ and all its contents to the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in the British Realm, as his desire was that the house should be open to the public as a museum. The collections he bequeathed include paintings, silver, furniture, jewellery, Oriental rugs and armoury, as well as a remarkable library containing over 4,500 books, and some highly valuable manuscripts. As the Order felt that it could not take on the responsibility of the house, it passed it on to the Captain O F Gollcher OBE Art and Archaeological Foundation. Following an agreement reached with the Gollcher Foundation in 2001,Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti was entrusted with the conservation and management of the house, which it has transformed into a Historic House Museum.

The Restoration Project

The daunting process of restoring Palazzo Falson, and its numerous unparalleled collections, commenced in 2002. The thousands of artefacts were first photographed and inventoried, and then moved to safe storage where the long task of restoring, conserving and cleaning each item was initiated. In the meantime, the building itself had to be consolidated. This meant securing the roofs, rendering the walls and ceilings waterproof, and restructuring certain areas of the building which had deteriorated beyond repair. Each stone in the building was cleaned and re-pointed using a hydraulic lime-based solution. The façade was professionally restored, as were all the wooden apertures. The soffits and friezes, which had suffered damage from water seepage, also had to be restored. In order to reach the standards of a professional museum, the building has been fitted with a new electrical system for correct museum lighting, as well as a proper security system.

This arduous process of restoration was not without its rewards, as several features were discovered, shedding light on the building interventions effected throughout the centuries. Likewise, focused research on the collections revealed that certain artefacts were of exceptional importance, both on a national and international level.

Visiting the Palazzo

A tour of the Palazzo would start with the Orientation Room, which includes a number of information panels, as well as a selection of items that represent the various collections. Through the courtyard, one can enter the Refectory, and subsequently the Armoury, Kitchen and Studio. The display cabinets in the Refectory house a number of small eclectic collections. One of them contains locks, various weights and measures, and pewter wares, as well as a small collection of brass oil lamps, and candle snuffers. Another cabinet includes an extensive Willow pattern dinner service, and various other blue and white Oriental style ceramic pieces. A collection of spinning wheels, and four Maltese formal armchairs are also exhibited in this room.

Capt. Gollcher’s interest in weaponry is evident through the extensive and varied collection on display in the Armoury. The walls are hung with an interesting array of swords, polearms, pistols and guns. There are also two crossbows, one of which probably dates to the early 16th century, and a pied-de-chevre, or ‘goat’s foot’, which is a lever designed to pull and secure the crossbow string behind the latch. Gollcher was also interested in Oriental arms and armour, and in this collection there is a Persian helmet (kulah khud), chain mail vest (zirah baktar), and shield (sipar). There is also a Persian dagger, and a yataghan, which is a Turkish sword with a curved blade that is known for its strength and sharpness. This yataghan has a highly decorated hilt and scabbard.

Gollcher affectionately referred to his kitchen as his ‘trattoria’, which means ‘small restaurant’ in Italian. This room is dominated by a large fireplace, which is decorated with colourful maiolica tiles showing individual folk figures in 18th century costume. Some of these figures are portrayed playing musical instruments, while others engage in pastoral pursuits. There are also depictions of food and kitchen related items. Nearby, a large wood-burning oven is integrated into an architectural framework decorated with blue and white tiles. The trapdoor in front of the fireplace leads down into a wine cellar. Some furniture items of note in this room are the 17th century oak refectory table, and the three Maltese 17th century half-cabinets. A large collection of copper pots, pans, kettles, jelly moulds and other containers are also on display around the room.

Some of Gollcher’s paintings are exhibited in the Studio. He was an active member of a group of artists known as the Confraternita’ della Pipa (the ‘Brotherhood of the Pipe’), and they had a seat in Via Margutta in Rome, where they held exhibitions. This brotherhood had its own emblem, costumes and rites, and held regular parties. A 1924 parchment document of the Confraternita’ exhibited in this area, includes the signatures of some of the compari, such as the Carosi brothers Alberto (1891-1967) and Giuseppe (1883-1965), Enrico Ortolani (1883-c.1972) and Antonio Barrera (1889-1970). Paintings by these artists and others were donated by Gollcher to the National Museum (now the National Museum of Fine Arts).

On the stairway leading to the first floor is the Strongroom, where Gollcher locked away his silver when he went away, and which now holds part of the silver collection that is made up of more than eight hundred items. This collection includes some noteworthy and significant pieces of Maltese, Continental and British Silver. Displayed here is a selection of coffee pots, including an Empire style one that stands on three paw feet legs with palmette motifs, and has a wooden handle and an eagle head shaped spout. Tea was not generally popular in the Maltese Islands prior to the advent of the British, but coffee pot manufacturing in Malta can be traced back to the last quarter of the 17th century.

The piano nobile landing contains an interesting collection of marine paintings, including ones featuring historical naval engagements. Some of these feature cartouches bearing inscriptions, and the arms of the Order of the Knights of St John, and of the reigning Grand Masters.

An important painting also displayed here is one that records an episode of Gollcher family history. It features a ship called the ‘Swalan’, with Johan Gustaf Gollcher as Master entering Malta in 1848. This painting depicts the vessel entering the Grand Harbour, with the Royal Naval Hospital building at Bighi in full view on the right-hand side. Johan Gustaf Gollcher was our Olof’s great-grandfather, as well as the father of the Olof Frederick Gollcher who founded the O.F. Gollcher & Sons Company in 1854, a shipping company which is still operational today.

Tucked away on the left hand side of the landing is the Study, which is full of various objects of interest, such as a collection of prints that include three by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). These engravings are the Turkish Family, Three Peasants in Conversation, and the Peasant Couple Dancing. Dating to 1497, the first two belong to his early period, whereas the last work dates to 1514, by which time his engravings were conceived in more painterly terms.

The Study also contains a number of engravings by Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), that belong to his best known series entitled Figurine, depicting soldiers and peasant men and women. The whole series, which was executed between 1656 and 1657, was made up of sixty-two plates. Rosa’s Figurine were very popular and were copied and imitated many times over. It is thought that he produced these etchings to demonstrate his skill at depicting the human form, seeing as he was largely known for his wildly romantic and rugged landscapes including shepherds and bandits.

Within the Small Collections Room there is a variety of jewellery and other accessories, as well as an extraordinary collection of pocket watches. One of the most valuable pieces is a unique watch signed Robin a’ Paris No. 2, which was made in Paris in 1791 by Robert Robin (1742-1799). Distinctive for its ten-hour dial, this watch reflects French Revolutionary Time, which was based on the decimal principle. Revolutionary or Decimal Time was officially adopted in 1793, and it stipulated that the Gregorian calendar was to be abandoned in favour of the Republican calendar, which divided the day into ten hours with one hundred minutes each having one hundred seconds. Although quite simple, this system of timekeeping did not prove popular, and by 1795 was no longer compulsory. On the 1st January 1806, French timekeeping reverted to the traditional system. Few examples of these watches were produced, most of which are no longer extant.

The walls of the Drawing Room are graced with a number of beautiful and interesting paintings, one of which features Lucretia Stabbing Herself, by the Italian artist Mattia Preti (1613-1699), who is also known as the Cavalier Calabrese. The story of Lucretia can be found in the legendary history of early Rome, as told by Livy. Lucretia was the virtuous wife of a nobleman, who was raped by Sextus, the son of the tyrant Tarquin the Proud. Opposite this is a painting of Diana and Actaeon, whose story is described at length in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. While hunting in the forest, the young prince Actaeon stumbles upon Diana and her nymphs bathing by a stream. Diana, who was the virgin huntress and one of the twelve gods and goddesses of Olympus, punishes Actaeon for seeing her in the nude by turning him into a stag. This painting depicts the moment that Actaeon has glimpsed Diana and is rushing away with his hands raised in astonishment, and his fate already sealed. Diana gestures in his direction while holding one of her arrows. Actaeon runs away, only to be pursued and torn apart by his own pack of dogs.

The Sitting Room at Palazzo Falson is adorned with a number of remarkable portraits, one of which is of a youthful Louis XIII of France. This is a copy after Frans Pourbus II (1569-1622), who was one of the principal court portraitists in Europe of his time. Two other important portraits are of a Genoese noble woman after Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), and of another lady by Jakob-Ferdinand Voet (1639-c.1700). Displayed on the walls are also various other paintings of biblical and mythological subjects, four stucco bas reliefs, a selection of European folding fans, and a Maltese wall clock. Within the wall niche there are some Capodimonte porcelain figures and some very colourful Staffordshire pottery pieces. There is also a pair of Japanese Satsuma earthenware vases belonging to the Meiji period, which spanned from 1868 to 1912.
This room also includes some magnificent pieces of furniture, such as an early 18th century bureau which has a fall-front writing surface, serpentine fronted drawers and concave sides. It is veneered with carob wood, and inlaid with walnut and orange wood.

The third reception room on the piano nobile is the Dining Room, which is dominated by a magnificent fireplace that bears an inscription commemorating Grand Master L’Isle Adam’s visit to Malta, after the island was donated to the Order of St John by Emperor Charles V in 1530. L’Isle Adam’s coat-of-arms is also carved on the fireplace. The dining room also has a painted frieze of garlands of fruits and flowers, which was executed by Victor Fleri Soler (1898-1959), in some instances with the help of Olof Gollcher himself.
The numerous paintings in this room include various Gollcher family portraits, landscapes and still life compositions. At one end of the room, there is a classically-inspired marble portrait bust of Napoleon Bonaparte, that was modelled after the official one made by Antoine-Denis Chaudet (1763-1810) in 1804. The dining room table is laid out with a fine array of silverware, and one of the most remarkable is the late 18th century silver jug by Gioacchino Lebrun. It was possibly used for claret, as its handle is composed out of intertwined vine tendrils.

The vast collection of books in the Library consists mainly of historical titles and renowned literary works in various languages. There are also a number of series books, such as the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica published between 1875 and 1889, and the complete works of Voltaire, published in 70 volumes from 1785 to 1789. Other sets of interest include Pastor’s The History of the Popes (1305-1700), edited by F.I. Antrobus and published in 1923, and the Cambridge Modern History, published in 14 volumes between 1904 and 1912. There is also a particularly extensive compilation of British history works, and a selection of art historical books and periodicals relating to the diverse artefacts that Gollcher held in his collections.

A number of icons adorn the walls of the chapel, including two of the Virgin and Child that are encased within rizas, denoting them as objects of special veneration. One of these two icons is of the traditional Eleousa type, also known as the Virgin of Tenderness or Mercy. The display cabinet holds a number of silver ecclesiastical pieces, including three 17th century holy oil flasks, a holy water stoup, and a reliquary. Other silver items in the chapel include two small holy water fonts. These are executed with great detail, and feature a pair of birds drinking at a fountain, as well as baskets of flowers, ribbons, fruit and foliage. They are the work of the silversmith Bartolomeo Valazza, who operated in Venice in the first half of the 19th century.
A Maltese walnut prie dieu inlaid with orange wood and olive wood is also exhibited here. Dating to the mid-17th century, its design incorporates a cupboard where prayer books could be kept, as well as a storage space for a kneeling cushion.

A number of female portraits hang in the Master Bedroom, including three 18th century ones. Two of these hang on each side of the bed, with one of a young lady holding a flower and a fan on the right, and another of a Maltese lady on the left. The third portrait is of an elderly Maltese lady, which is displayed on top of a beautifully carved cabinet that contains a number of medals, purses, handbags, and other clothing accessories. This cabinet also contains some of Olof Gollcher’s personal effects, like membership cards of the various clubs and organisations he belonged to. At the centre of the cabinet there is a Maltese lace fan that probably dates to the late 19th century. It is mounted on silver sticks and guardsticks, and the latter are elegantly engraved with a floral motif. The fine beige silk lace is of a typical design of the 19th century Maltese Blonde. Another fan in this cabinet is a 19th century Cantonese one, which is also known as a Mandarin fan or ‘thousand faces’ fan. The sticks and guards are made out of lacquered wood, and the leaf is made out of paper painted with gouache and ink.

Palazzo Falson has an impressive collection of over eighty Oriental rugs from different areas such as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and a selection of these are displayed in the Carpet Gallery. This collection also includes some Persian and prayer rugs. Twenty-one of the rugs in this collection are from Azerbaijan. Historical sources claim that Azerbaijan was one of the most important carpet-weaving centres in the East in the Middle Ages. Rugs were made to satisfy both utilitarian and aesthetic needs, and in Azerbaijan the rugs were woven by women, with methods that were passed on from one generation to the next. Rugs would also form part of a girl’s dowry, which she had to help weave.

Captain Gollcher was a member of the Antiquities Committee, and actively spoke in favour of the preservation of Maltese historical sites. He was also the secretary of both the International Institute of Mediterranean Archaeology and its local offshoot, the Malta Underwater Archaeological Branch, which was set up in 1961. Gollcher actively endeavoured to raise awareness of the institute’s activities in the press. The headquarters of the local branch were located at this palazzo, where a laboratory for the cleaning of pottery and metals was also set up. The institute’s team was successful in recovering objects of historical value around Malta and Sicily, most of which were presented to local museums.
The archaeological collection displayed at the palazzo contains some Roman pieces, including an early trefoil-lipped jug with a flat base, a dipping cup, and an unguentarium. There is also a variety of oil lamps, bowls and parts of amphorae. Other interesting pieces include an ancient clay figurine of a female figure with head-dress, and an archaic type marble bearded head, possibly of a divinity.

Works of Art from the Various Collections

	Mattia Preti (1613-1699) Lucretia Stabbing Herself oil on canvas , 209x155cm
	Metal Icon Pendant of the Nativity
	Persian Helmet known as Kulah Khud
	Marble Portrait Bust of Napoleon modelled after the official one by Antoine-Denis Chaudet (1763-1810)
	A Miniature from an Illuminated Manuscript featuring a full armorial bearing
	Capodimonte Porcelain Figure of Venus
	Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) engraving from the series Figurine
	Late 18th Century Silver Covered Jug by Gioacchino Lebrun
	Azerbaijan Rug 170x120cm