Join us for a fascinating evening exploring the centuries-long human impulse to collect, through the story of one of Hatfield House’s most remarkable treasures: the Rock Crystal displayed in the Long Gallery.
Led by an expert panel, this instalment in our lecture series will examine the history of collecting across the centuries, from the ambitions and tastes of the early Cecils to the wider culture of collecting among their contemporaries.
At the centre of the discussion is the Hatfield Park Rock Crystal itself – its possible provenance, the circumstances of its acquisition, and the significance it may have held within one of Britain’s great historic houses.
Alongside the history of collectors and collections, the evening will also consider a more timeless question: why do we collect at all? From status and scholarship to curiosity and personal fascination, our panel will explore the motivations that have shaped collections throughout the centuries.
Visitors will have the opportunity to admire the Rock Crystal in the Long Gallery before and after the lecture, with plenty of time to appreciate its intricate detail in the unique setting of the Long Gallery.
This is an exclusive one-evening event, with limited tickets available.
The Rock Crystal displayed in Hatfield Park’s Long Gallery is a sparkling sight to behold – a collection crafted from finely carved raw crystal and inlaid with gold, rubies, and pearls.
Objects of this kind were once displayed as luxurious table ornaments in the households of powerful noblemen and Renaissance princes, admired for their rarity and delicate craftsmanship.
The Hatfield Park Rock Crystal belonged to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and some pieces were inherited from his father, Lord Burghley. This places the objects at the heart of one of the great collecting dynasties of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Their origins and the circumstances in which they were acquired remain uncertain.
This sense of uncertainty adds to their enduring fascination, raising questions about taste, status, and collecting culture in the early modern world.
Timothy Schroder
Timothy Schroder is one of Britain’s leading historians and lecturers on silver, goldsmiths’ work, and the culture of display, making him ideally placed to explore the wider world of princely and aristocratic collecting. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, he is a former President of the Silver Society, a former Consultant Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a former trustee of The Wallace Collection. He has also served two terms as Prime Warden of The Goldsmiths’ Company, reflecting a career at the forefront of scholarship and connoisseurship. 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), both of which explore the prestige and meaning of precious objects in historic collections.
Dr Susan Bracken, FSA
Dr Susan Bracken is a distinguished scholar of seventeenth-century collecting whose work has deepened our understanding of how objects were acquired, displayed, and valued in the early modern period. She is co-convenor of Collecting & Display, the long-running seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, and has co-edited six books on the topic. Dr Bracken also lectures regularly at the Victoria and Albert Museum and elsewhere, bringing together rigorous research with a gift for making complex histories engaging and accessible. As a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars, she has both academic authority and a deep understanding of the intellectual and cultural world in which collections such as Hatfield Park’s were formed.
Tom White
Tom White is a Psychology PhD researcher at the University of Warwick whose work explores a question at the heart of this event: why do we collect? Drawing on both academic research and personal experience as an avid collector, whose collections range from Lego models to Listerine mouthwash, he investigates how self and social identities, individual differences, and perceptions of value shape the decisions people make about collectable consumer products. His research considers the psychological forces behind collecting behaviour, from self-expression and social belonging to rarity, meaning, and attachment. His perspective adds a contemporary angle to the discussion, connecting historic collecting practices with impulses that remain familiar today.
Friday 25th September
5:45pm
Arrive at Hatfield House and spend time admiring the Rock Crystal, with a Champagne reception in the Long Gallery.
6:30pm
The Art of Collecting lecture begins in the Marble Hall.
Following the talks, there will be an audience Q&A with our expert panel.
9:00pm
Event concludes.
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.
£50 per person
We look forward to welcoming you.
Please follow the event-specific parking instructions above.
This is a unique evening at Hatfield Park, with a limited number of places available.
Please book in advance to secure your place and avoid disappointment.
