POLESDEN LACEY, SURREY

A new exhibition showcases over 100 treasures from one of the National Trust’s most glamorous collections

Once the darling of early 20th-century high society, when Dame Margaret Greville died in 1942, she left her home of Polesden Lacey, and the treasures within, to the National Trust.

Polesden Lacey had been used by Greville to host lavish parties, which attracted guests such as King Edward VII and Winston Churchill, many of whom gifted her with small, precious objets d’art, as was the custom then.

Now, in Treasured Possessions: Riches of Polesden Lacey, which will run this year and next, visitors can admire key pieces, including jewelled animals by Fabergé and Cartier, and Greville’s cherished Fabergé egg, complete with a diamond clasp in the shape of a snowflake.

Alice Strickland, the exhibition’s curator, says: “In her lifetime it was the privileged few who could enjoy the treasures, but she intended her bequest ‘to form a Picture and Art Gallery,’ ‘for the largest number of people to have enjoyment thereof.’ ’’ nationaltrust.org.uk/polesden-lacey