The Waddesdon Bequest and Waddesdon Manor: a legacy of collecting

Waddesdon Manor represents a landmark in the history of artistic connoisseurship and collecting.

Built in the style of a French Renaissance château between 1874 and 1889 for the Baron Ferdinand Rothschild (1839–1898), the Manor’s New Smoking Room was the original display place of nearly 300 exceptionally important and beautiful medieval and Renaissance pieces, now beautifully housed at the British Museum's state-of-the-art gallery for the Waddesdon Bequest (Room 2a).

Chaired and introduced by Curator Dora Thornton, British Museum, this discussion will trace the history of both the Manor and the Bequest, articulating the forces, figures and factors that shaped its formation. Featuring Pippa Shirley, Head of Collections and Gardens at Waddesdon Manor, Michael Hall, author of Waddesdon Manor: The Biography of a Rothschild House, and leading authority on metalwork, silver and jewellery Charles Truman