Mansion House is home to The Harold Samuel Collection of Dutch and Flemish 17th century paintings; it is formed of eighty-four pieces and is perhaps the best collection of Dutch art in Britain.
Image credit: Theo Tzia Photography
Lord Harold Samuel of Wych Cross, a wealthy property developer and entrepreneur, left the collection to the City of London in 1987. The ‘Merry Lute Player’, the best-known painting in the collection, is a lively picture and one of a group painted in the mid-1620s of life-size, half-length figures, drinking or making music and wearing fanciful, or theatrical costume. This painting made headline news when it was bought for Lord Samuel at a New York auction in 1963, partly for its record price, but mostly because this was the first occasion on which the bidding was conducted by telephone from London.
Image credit: Theo Tzia Photography
Much of the collection is on display leading from the main staircase of Mansion House up to the first floor Salon area, and into the Drawing Rooms.
Image credit: Theo Tzia Photography
It is now possible to hire these rooms for more intimate receptions and dinners and professional art guides can be arranged to conduct tours, or talks, on the collection, making it a memorable and entirely unique experience for event guests.