Dulwich Decorative & Fine Arts Society

The St Pancras Hotel was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1873.  It was the last and grandest of the railway hotels built to serve passengers at major termini and to act as an advertisement for them.  Much money has been spent recently restoring the hotel, bringing its features back to life, including details that George Gilbert Scott put into the original works at a total of £438,000 (equivalent today to around £750 million).

Our guide will be the hotel's historian, Royden Scott, who has worked at the hotel for 15 years. The Gothic Revival interiors evoke palaces and churches with pointed arches and ogees, colonettes, fruit and flower carvings, trefoils and quatrefoils - the materials include gold leaf, granite, pink and white stone and wrought iron.

The cost of this guided visit is £20.00 per person.  There is a maximum of 10 visitors per group. Travel and refreshments are not included.

SOLD OUT

The Royal School of Needlework's royal connections go back to 1872 and come up to date with the work on the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress. The Royal Connections exhibition reflects the RSN's connections through photographs, correspondence, work donated to the RSN, pieces by members of the royal family, and designs and commissions for royal occasions. The exhibits include the goldwork sampler from the Queen’s coronation train, embroidered greetings from India to Edward VII, and samplers celebrating many 20th century royal occasions. The exhibition has been mounted to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of its Patron, Her Majesty The Queen. Our two-hour visit will include a short lecture on the RSN’s royal connections and we will see more than 100 pieces, as well as special items from the archive. We may also be able to see pieces which the RSN Studio is currently working on.

The cost is £22 per person and the tour is limited to 20 people to maximise the opportunity to see the exhibits properly. Travel and refreshments are not included. The RSN is situated at Hampton Court Palace, where there is a café/restaurant for coffee and lunch.

Our visit to Christie's lasts about 1½ hours and starts with coffee in the directors' boardroom.  This will be accompanied by a talk on the history of the company since its foundation in 1766, focusing on the highs and lows of the art market.  We will be taken around the warehouses, which are normally closed to the public, and shown how catalogue layouts are prepared in the digital photographic studio. All  the main viewing galleries are visited and on most days one can watch a sale in progress.

The auction process is explained in detail from the valuation counter through to the actual saleroom.  As we leave, we will be offered an information pack containing the latest Christie’s publications and services brochures.

The cost of this visit is £22.00 per person. Travel is not included. There is a maximum of 16 visitors per group.

14 May SOLD OUT; places available on Tues 24 April, 2.30