View source for Engineering:Flagstaff House

{{Short description|Museum in Central, Hong Kong}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox building
| name =Flagstaff House
| native_name =旗桿屋
| native_name_lang =zh-hant
| logo =
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| image =舊三軍司令官邸.jpg
| image_size =250px
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| image_caption =Flagstaff house
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| architectural_style =Greek revival style
| classification =
| location =Central
| address =10 Cotton Tree Drive
| location_country =[[Place:Hong Kong|Hong Kong]]
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| current_tenants =Museum of Tea Ware
| namesake =
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| completion_date =1846
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| owner =Hong Kong Government
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| footnotes = {{designation list|embed=yes
|designation1=HK Declared Monument
|designation1_number=36
|designation1_date=14 September 1989}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|title='''Flagstaff House'''
|t = 旗桿屋
|s = 旗杆屋
|p=Qígānwū
|w=Ch'i<sup>2</sup> kan<sup>1</sup> wu<sup>1</sup> 
|ci={{IPA-yue|kʰȅi kɔ́ːn ʔʊ́k|}} 
|j=Kei4 gon1 uk1
|y=Kèih gōn ūk
|altname = Museum of Tea Ware
|t2 = 茶具文物館
|s2 = 茶具文物馆
|p2=Chájù Wénwùguǎn 
|w2=Ch'a<sup>2</sup> chü<sup>4</sup> wen<sup>2</sup> wu<sup>4</sup> kuan<sup>3</sup> 
|ci2={{IPA-yue|tsʰȁː kɵ̀y mɐ̏n mɐ̀t kʷǔːn|}} 
|j2=Caa4 geoi6 man4 mat6 gwun2
|y2=Chàh geuih màhn maht gún
}}

'''Flagstaff House''', built in 1846, is the oldest example of Western-style architecture remaining in Hong Kong.<ref name="AMO">Antiquities and Monuments Office: [http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_36.php Declared Monuments in Hong Kong: Flagstaff House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027072320/http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_36.php |date=27 October 2019 }}</ref> It is located at 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central – within the Hong Kong Park.

It has been a longtime residence of the Commander of the British forces in Hong Kong during colonial times. Today Flagstaff House houses the '''Museum of Tea Ware'''.

==History==
[[File:Flagstaff House.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Flagstaff House in 1846]]
[[File:Flagstaff House Museum of Tea ware Interior1 2012.jpg|thumb|Interior of Flagstaff House]]
[[File:Flagstaff House Museum of Tea ware Interior 2012.jpg|thumb|Interior of Flagstaff House]]
Flagstaff House had been named as '''Headquarter House''' until 1932.<ref name=proudhouse>Eric Cavaliero, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=13551&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19970116&sear_year=1997 Proud house on a hill] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208191217/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=13551&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19970116&sear_year=1997 |date=8 December 2015 }}, The Standard, 16 January 1997</ref> The site chosen was a small bluff above the barracks and above Queen's Road, then at the waterfront.

The building was designed in Greek revival style. Historians suspect it was designed either by Murdoch Bruce, a Scotsman who was inspector of buildings, or by Lieutenant Bernard Collinson of the Royal Engineers.<ref name=proudhouse/> The first occupant was Major-General George Charles D'Aguilar, General Officer Commanding from 1844 to 1846 who also held the post of Lieutenant Governor.<ref name=proudhouse/>

The west and east wings were shelled during the Japanese invasion in the Second World War; it also suffered bomb damage. The Japanese repaired it and the Commandant took the building as his residence during the occupation.<ref name=proudhouse/>

After the war, Flagstaff House was again the Commander's residence until 1978,<ref name="AMO"/> when the Commander moved to a purpose built house on Barker Road. It was handed over by the military to the civilian Hong Kong Government as part of the recovery of Victoria Barracks. The Government put it under the responsibility of the Urban Council in 1981.<ref name=proudhouse/>

The building was declared a monument in 1989.<ref name=EPD>{{cite web|title=Annex I Listing of Declared Monuments|url=http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/textonly/english/environmentinhk/eia_planning/sea/annex_i.html|date=1 January 1999|access-date=10 March 2013|work=Environmental Protection Department|publisher=Government of Hong Kong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028021126/http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/eia_planning/sea/annex_i.html|archive-date=28 October 2009}}</ref> It was restored as far as possible to its original mid-19th-century appearance, structurally reinforced, and the interior was to be modified so that it could be used as a museum.<ref name=proudhouse/>

==Museum of Tea Ware==
[[File:Flagstaff House Tea Museum.jpg|thumb|A display of tea ware from the Flagstaff House Museum]]
In 1984, it was converted into the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, a branch museum of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The museum specialises in the collection, study and display of [[Engineering:Teaware|teaware]], including many samples of the Yixing [[Engineering:Teapot|teapot]], from the Jiangsu of China, as well as the world's oldest known extant teapot.

A new wing, the K.S. Lo Gallery, was built and opened in 1995.<ref>[http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/en_US/web/ma/collection05.html K.S. Lo Collection of Tea Ware and Seals]</ref> It is named after local collector (and Vitasoy founder Dr. Kwee Seong Lo), who made a donation to the city in the 1970s. This donation now constitutes the core of the museum's collection. The new gallery contains a collection of ceramics and Chinese seals.

==See also==
* History of Hong Kong
* Hong Kong tea culture
* List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
* List of museums in Hong Kong

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/en_US/web/ma/tea-ware.html LCSD – Tea Museum]

{{coord|22|16|42.60|N|114|9|45.0|E|display=title}}

[[Category:Teaware]]

{{Sourceattribution|Flagstaff House|1}}