Join us as our panel delve into the theme of collecting across the ages, with a focus on the Rock Crystal on display in the Long Gallery.
Learn about one of Hatfield House’s greatest treasures and explore the possible provenance of the Hatfield Rock Crystal, as well as the circumstances of its acquisition. Discover the history of collecting, with reference to the early Cecils and other contemporary collectors, and explore the psychology behind why we collect.

Visitors will have the opportunity to view the Rock Crystal in the Long Gallery before and after the lecture.

Friday 25th September
6pm – Arrival, exhibition, and Champagne reception in the Armoury
6:30pm – Lecture begins, followed by a Q&A session, with the event concluding at 9pm

Hatfield House, Hatfield Park

Timothy Schroder
Timothy Schroder is a historian and lecturer on silver and goldsmiths’ work, and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is a former President of the Silver Society, Consultant Curator at the V&A, and a trustee of the Wallace Collection. He has served two terms as Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company. His publications include British and Continental Gold and Silver in the Ashmolean Museum (2009) and ‘A Marvel to Behold’, Gold and Silver at the Court of Henry VIII (2020).

Dr Susan Bracken, FSA
Dr Susan Bracken continues to research aspects of seventeenth-century collecting. She is one of the convenors of the seminar Collecting & Display at the Institute of Historical Research and has co-edited six books on collecting and display. She lectures regularly at the Victoria & Albert Museum and elsewhere and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars.

Tom White
Tom White is a Psychology PhD researcher at the University of Warwick and an avid collector, with collections ranging from Lego models to Listerine mouthwash. His research investigates how self and social identities, individual differences, and perceptions of value shape the decisions people make about collectible consumer products.
£50 per person
Free entry is available for carers if accompanying the person they care for. ID will be required.
Limited tickets are available, so please book in advance to secure your place and avoid missing out.
Guests arriving by car should enter via the private entrance opposite Hatfield Train Station. Parking will be available along the avenue up to the North Front of the House. The postcode is AL9 5AE.
Please disregard the brown ‘Visitor Entrance’ signs on this occasion.
