Thomas Hardwick Painted by order of the Company in 1758. Hardwick was Clerk to the Company, 1737-1773 Thomas Hudson chandeliers A pair of late 19th century cut glass chandeliers Thomas Bagshaw Painted by order of the Company in 1778. Bagshaw was clerk in the Company’s office from 1737-1754, and Beadle from 1754 until his death in 1794 Spiridione Roma verde antico marble candelabra One of a pair of late 19th century gilt-bronze and verde antico marble candelabra each standing on A gilt-bronze mounted ebonised pedestal by Beforte Jeune Sir William Boreman Boreman was the founder of the Green Coat School at Greenwich which he entrusted to the Company on his death. Today , the Sir William Boreman Foundation makes grants to schools and organizations for education and training in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, and providing funding to pupils and students, under the age of 25, who are resident in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham Circle of Cornelius Johnson, late 17th century The carpet The carpet was installed in the summer of 2007. It was designed by Helen Owen and was woven by the Grosvenor Wilton Company in Kidderminster dining chairs Suite of oak dining chairs, circa 1869 Henry Dixon Dixon was Master in 1686 and on his death in 1695 left property to the Company to be applied in placing boys apprenticed to handicraft trades. Henry Dixon’s Foundation for Apprenticing, today administered within Drapers’ Charitable Fund, is a grant-making charity providing grants for higher education, principally in the field of textiles English School, late 17th century Her Majesty The Queen painted by order of the Company to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty becoming a Freeman of the Company in 1947 and unveiled by The Queen in November 2000 Sergei Pavlenko Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine, Peter and Paul,
and an Angel Presented by Assistant Robert Hendrie (Master in 1855) in 1852 Attributed to Francesco da Santacroce (early 16th century) Sir Ernest Pooley GCVO Painted by order of the Company in 1960. Sir Ernest was Assistant Clerk, 1905-8; Clerk 1908-44 and Master in 1944 Norman Hepple ARA Sir Joseph Sheldon Painted by order of the Company in 1678. Sheldon is depicted as Mayor of London, in which office he served 1675-6. He was elected Master of the Drapers’ Company in 1676 Gerald Zoest

The History of

The Court Dining Room's

The Court Dining Room stands in the oldest part of Drapers’ Hall, dating to the late 1660s.

It was significantly altered in 1869 when John G Crace was commissioned to redesign the ceiling and wall ornamentations.  The walls were altered in the 1960s but the present decorations and soft furnishings, dating from the 1990s, echo Crace’s colour scheme and design.

Central to Crace’s ceiling design is a scene from the Legend of the Golden Fleece by Félix-Joseph Barrias, a French painter well-known in his day for mythological subjects. The ceiling cove too dates from 1869 and features the coats of arms of the governors of the Drapers’ Company at that time interspersed with the caduceus staff of Mercury, god of merchants.

The focal point for the room is the portrait of HM The Queen by Sergei Pavlenko commissioned by the Company to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty becoming a Freeman in 1947.  Other paintings on display celebrate past benefactors, including Sir William Boreman and Henry Dixon, and past members of staff, including Thomas Hardwick and Sir Ernest Pooley, both Clerks of the Company, and Thomas Bagshaw, a Beadle.

Between two 18th century Gobelin tapestries depicting scenes from the Legend of the Golden Fleece stands our oldest timepiece, made for the Company by the celebrated English clockmaker Daniel Quare in 1715.

The Court Dining Room is so named because it is here that traditionally the Company’s governors, the Court of Assistants, join together for a meal on the day when they meet to manage our corporate affairs and administer our charitable trusts.