Heritage & Archives
Our collection of paintings encompasses portraits of past Drapers and past benefactors and, ranged around the Livery Hall, a fine set of portraits of British monarchs from the great baroque artist Sir Godfrey Kneller’s William III to Harold Speed’s Edward VII.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen becoming a Freeman in 1947, we commissioned Sergei Pavlenko, one of Her Majesty’s favourite portraitists.
We also have works by Herbert Draper, now acknowledged as one of the greatest classical painters in the late Victorian period. His painting of 1900 ‘The Gates of Dawn’ celebrates the turn of the century and shows Draper at the height of his powers and not long before he was commissioned to paint our Livery Hall ceiling which has come to be regarded as one of his finest achievements.
We also have views of the City, watercolours of the Company’s former Irish estate, and images pertaining to the many schools, colleges and institutions we fund.
The majority of the statues in Drapers’ Hall were purchased in the 19th century.
Access to the collection for research is granted at the discretion of the Company.
