Royal Oak has announced a major gift to the National Trust of $4 Million in honor of the 125th anniversary of the Trust’s founding. The gift will be directed to the Decorative Arts Conservation Studio at Knole enabling the Trust to tackle several hundred significant and high-profile objects over the next 5 years, benefiting historic places across the organization.
Since it was established in 1973, The Royal Oak Foundation has provided vital support for some of the National Trust’s most important conservation projects. A gift of this scale represents a new era in our decades-long partnership and marks this important anniversary year for the National Trust. In recognition of this transformative gift for collections conservation, the Trust has renamed the Studio, The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio, for a period of 10 years.
As Europe’s biggest conservation charity, the National Trust is home to one of the world’s largest collections of art and material culture. With more than one million objects at over 200 historic places, looking after the unique needs of such a deep and varied collection is one of the Trust’s greatest challenges. These collections and interiors reflect an enormous range of materials and types of object – everything from paintings by the Old Masters to early Chinese teacups. Many of the works of art, furniture and other objects in the collections were commissioned, acquired and accumulated by past owners and their families over many centuries, as then-contemporary furnishings and dazzling displays.
With this support from Royal Oak, the Trust will be able to undertake much needed conservation work and technical research on key objects from around the organization. The Trust will prioritize objects which are classed as highly significant across a wide range of mediums including paintings, decorative arts, furniture and more.
“A gift this size would not have been possible without the generous support of our donors especially those who provided legacy gifts in their estate plans.”
A portrait of Sir John Maitland, which usually hangs at the National Trust’s Ham House in Richmond, is being conserved at the conservation studio in Kent thanks to funding from the Royal Oak Foundation.
The funding from Royal Oak represents many years of generous donations from members and supporters. Every friend to Royal Oak has played a part in this incredible project, especially those members and friends who have made legacy donations. Over the decades, Royal Oak members and friends have raised close to $20 million to support the National Trust, including a $1.25 million donation in support of conservation of the ballroom at Knole in 2012.
Over the coming months and years, Royal Oak members and friends will have the opportunity to learn about the projects undertaken at the Studio both in-person and online. All items conserved at Knole will recognize Royal Oak when they are returned to their original settings.
A stylish set of nine chairs at Petworth House in West Sussex are being conserved by the National Trust thanks to funding from the Royal Oak Foundation.
“We are looking forward to starting on the next phase of our collections conservation work and over the next five years we expect to dramatically improve the condition and appearance of more than 100 highly significant works of art, and items of historic furniture, books and textiles.”
Samurai armour from the National Trust’s Snowshill in Gloucestershire, is being conserved thanks to funding from the Royal Oak Foundation.
“The Board has a special relationship with Knole, helping to raise monies for the restoration in 2012. We feel that all properties at the Trust will benefit from this gift at the Studio and members will be able to visit the Conservation Studio to learn what objects are being restored. It is a privilege to celebrate the National Trust’s 125th anniversary.”
The highly distinctive armor dates from a peaceful period in the 1830s and was not made for military combat but for ceremonial procession. It was made in the province of Kaga and bears the signature of a talented master armourer Kashu ju Munenao, who beautifully decorated it with creatures, including crickets and dragonflies.
It was purchased for the quality of the craftsmanship by the collector and illustrator Charles Paget Wade (1883–1956) and displayed at his home, Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire.
The Trust will bring the armor back to its former glory. To do this, they will need to carefully clean it and apply treatments to stabilize the metal work and textiles.
The painting, in oil on a wooden panel, was painted when Maitland, once the hugely powerful and influential Lord Chancellor of Scotland under James VI, was the second most powerful man in Scotland. At the time only a small number of portrait painters were working in Scotland, and when portraiture was still a rare and luxurious commodity.
This portrait is now in line for vital conservation work. In 2017, X-ray analysis revealed what’s believed to be an unfinished portrait of Mary Queen of Scots hidden beneath the oil painting. The Trust hopes to learn even more about it by carrying out specialist investigations. Work also needs to be done to repair the oak panel support and consolidate the paint layers.
The 17th Century chairs, in elm and oak, painted and partly gilded, were directly influenced by Italian style, and similar chairs – known as sgabelli (stools) – were popular in Italy in the late 1500s. The set of chairs were made in England and highly decorated, being used at Petworth for several centuries.
These ‘sgabello’ chairs are intricately carved and decorated with paint and gilding work. The Trust hopes to learn more about historical materials and techniques as they restore them.
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