Meetings take place at the Uppingham Town Cricket Club, Castle Hill, Leicester Road Uppingham, LE15 9SP at 11am please be seated before then. Coffee will be available from 10.15 with Hugh the Membership Secretary ready at the desk to welcome you as you come in and register Membership year 2026 November 19th 2026 Will Gilding Pricing Provenance What turns a humble typewriter into an international must have? A scrap of a police charge sheet into something collectors go potty for? Or even a pair of old stockings from a £1 charity shop find to £1,100 at auction? The answer is it comes down to provenance. This lecture will look at the almost incalculable factor of past ownership, and the effects on auction value. Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo "Diego Rivera's SIGNED MoMA Exhibition Shipping/Inventory Contract", 1931, Museum Modern Art NY New Membership year January 21st 2027 Simon Whitehouse Columns, Cabbages and Kings. A Short History of Covent Garden In this lecture, we chart the highs (and lows) of one of London’s most vibrant and fascinating neighbourhoods. We begin with the area’s surprising Saxon origins to its takeover by the monks at Westminster Abbey. Following the Reformation, the area changed hands again and in the early Stuart era the first planned square was developed by the Earls of Bedford and architect Inigo Jones. By 1670, the area was inextricably linked to the theatre and a daily market was established which thrived until 1974. The Royal Opera House, Bow Street frontage, with the statue of Royal Ballerina Katie Pianoff in the foreground, Russ London Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 18 February 2027 Russell Nash The Men Who Made Menswear This lecture tells the story of men's tailoring over the past 200 years, told through the lives of the men who commissioned and created and wore it. Tailors, shirt- makers, hatters and other craftspeople in London’s west end, especially around Savile Row & Jermyn Street have shaped the way men dress since the Regency. How did men such as Beau Brummell, The Duke of Windsor, Tommy Nutter, Montague Burton, Alexander McQueen and John Stephen create their signature looks which influenced the mens fashion? This lecture also looks at the wider cultural shifts since the early 19th century to the present day and how they affected the way that men present themselves. Savile Row- Tailoring at Henry Poole and Co., London, 1944 Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer, Public domain 18 March 2027 Hilary Williams The Wallace and Frick Collections and their connection with Knole Details later