The Glass Gallery showing a complete history of glass from ancient times to contemporary and included are Islamic, British and European collections among others.

This is the Silver Gallery. Notice the two elaborately decorated pillars in the foreground and there are more pairs of plain pillars further along the gallery. Originally all of the pillars were as elaborately decorated as the first two but at the beginning of the 1900s it was decided that, because tastes had changed, the decorative tiles should be removed.

Now it has been decided that the decorative tiles are a good idea but there were only enough left to complete two pillars.

The Raphael Gallery houses the surviving designs painted by Raphael for tapestries commissioned in Rome in 1515 by Pope Leo X. These were to hang in the Sistine chapel on the walls beneath the ceiling by his contemporary Michelangelo. Although originally only designs (known as 'cartoons') to guide the weavers, they are now among the greatest artistic treasures in Britain. Owned by the British Royal Family since 1623, they have been on loan to the Museum since 1865.

The Great Bed of Ware, in the British Gallery, is an extremely large oak four poster bed, carved with marquetry, that was originally housed in the White Hart Inn in Ware, Hertfordshire, England. Built around 1590 the bed measures ten by eleven feet and can "sleep" over fifteen people at once. Many of those who have used the bed have carved their names into its posts.

Why was such a bed built? Was it for a very important person? Royalty perhaps? Nobody seems to know.