A £3 million gift to the National Trust will help it conserve historic objects ranging from Samurai armour to a sixteenth century portrait with a secret, the charity has said.
The gift from American charity the Royal Oak Foundation, which raises support for the National Trust in the US, will help five years of conservation work and protect more than a hundred historic artworks, the Trust said.
It will fund work mainly based at the charity’s specialist conservation studio at Knole, in Kent.
Some of the first objects to benefit from the funding include an oil painting of Sir John Maitland, from Ham House, in London, which is in need of conservation work including removal of varnish and overpaint.