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Loaning items to exhibitions

Sea Dog Table in the Withdrawing Chamber at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
Sea Dog Table in the Withdrawing Chamber at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire | © National Trust Images/John Hammond

We loan paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, ceramics and furniture to museums and galleries around the world, so they can be enjoyed by millions of visitors. Discover where some of the items we care for are displayed, and find out about the procedure for loaning objects from the National Trust.

Recent loans

Hardwick Hall's Tudor artefacts to a major touring exhibition in the USA

Two important objects from Hardwick Hall will be lent to a major exhibition The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England, which opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in autumn 2023, before touring to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 2024.

The Trust is lending an iconic portrait of Elizabeth I and one of the most significant pieces of furniture from our collection, the so-called ‘Sea Dog Table’, which was owned by Bess of Hardwick.

See the Sea Dog Table online

A close up of the painting the Stoning of Saint Stephen at Tatton Park
A close up of The Stoning of Saint Stephen at Tatton Park | © National Trust Images

Van Dyck to the Scuderie del Quirinale

An important painting from Tatton Park has been lent to the Scuderie del Quirinale centre in Rome for the exhibition Superbarocco: Arte a Genova da Rubens a Magnasco (Super-baroque: Art in Genoa from Rubens to Magnasco). The exhibition celebrates the sumptuous artworks created in Genoa during the 17th and 18th centuries.

See the full painting in our collections

A close up of the painting 'Woman in a Red Dress' at Polesden Lacey
A close up of the 'Woman in a Red Dress' at Polesden Lacey | © National Trust Images

Woman in a Red Dress to Dulwich Picture Gallery

Polesden Lacey’s Woman in a Red Dress is on show in Dulwich Picture Gallery's exhibition Reframed: The Woman in the Window. Exploring the motif of the ‘woman in the window’, the exhibition brings together over 50 examples by artists from ancient times to the modern day.

See the full painting online

National Trust loans out procedure

Loans to exhibitions are regarded as a significant factor in providing access to Trust collections. The registrar team are happy to advise about the selection and availability of objects for loan, but we suggest preliminary research should be carried out at least a year in advance.

Discover more about how to request to loan an object for an exhibition, which objects are elegible and the processes and policies in place.

Read more about our loans out procedure

National Trust loans out terms and conditions

Loans are approved by the Loans Board, which meets four times a year.

Read our loan terms and conditions

Sevres Wine Cooler, showing nymphs worshipping the bust of Pan, from a service made for Louis XVI, dated 1792, in the Porcelain Lobby at Upton House, Warwickshire

Art and collections

We care for one of the world's largest and most significant collections of art and heritage objects. Explore the highlights, our latest major exhibitions, curatorial research and more.

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