The Harold Samuel Collection Art Collection of Dutch and Flemish seventeenth-century pictures is one of the finest groups of Old Master paintings assembled in Britain over the past hundred years, but one of the least known. Sir Harold Samuel, 1st and last Lord Samuel of Wych Cross (1912 1987) bequeathed the collection to the City of London to hang at Mansion House. Now in the care of the Guildhall Museum and Art Gallery, the collection of 84 paintings can be viewed at Mansion House on organized tours or by appointment. Built between 1732 and 1754, the House is the home, office and center of...

An inscription on a silver-gilt cup and cover presented to the Lord Mayor in 1741 records that the intention of the gift was to increase "the Honour and Grandeur" of the City of London. It is just one piece of an exceptional collection of plate kept at Mansion House - along with dozens of pieces of official regalia that represent the Mayorality - which is constantly in use today to uphold that honor and in the grandest way possible. The continued use of ceremonial plate by the City of London is a rare survival of medieval practices of display. Though the collection has very little silver from...