Friends excursions: Skinners' Hall
Monday 5 June 2017 2.30 - 4pm
Meet at Skinners' Hall, 8 1/2 Dowgate Hill, EC4R
£26
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Friends have a rare opportunity to tour Skinners’ Hall, the home of the Worshipful Company of Skinners.
Granted their first charter in 1327, the Skinners’ Company is one of the 12 Great Livery Companies. The original hall was destroyed in Great Fire of London; the current hall was built in the 1680s. It is a rare survival, as many Livery Halls were destroyed in the Blitz. Our tour delves into the history of the company, which started life as the regulator of the production of skins and furs, as well as its modern-day role. We will tour the majority of the building, including the Banqueting Hall, which houses a magnificent series of panels painted by Sir Frank Brangwyn RA.
Friends will also learn about the Company’s recent acquisition of nine 16th-century panel portraits of generous benefactors to the Company, the Smythe family, by Dutch artist Cornelis Ketel. The paintings form a unique collection that had been destined for export abroad and would otherwise have been lost to the nation.