Saturday 31st January 2026 | St Mary’s University, Twickenham | Exhibition: Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger at Strawberry Hill House
Step into the world of curatorial sleuthing and discover how lost treasures are found, fakes unmasked, and hidden stories revealed.
Inspired by our exhibition Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger: From the Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage, this immersive Study Day introduces the tools, case studies, and investigative flair that go into real-world provenance research.
Whether you’re a student, collector, curator, or just deeply curious, this is your chance to become an art detective.
Standard Ticket: £45 | Students: £30 | Exhibition Entry Included
10.30–12.30 – Tools of Provenance Research | Led by Dr Adriano Aymonino, director of the Masters in Art Market, Provenance and the History of Collecting at the University of Buckingham. Senior Common Room (Waldegrave Suite)
Discover how scholars trace objects across centuries, from wartime looting to antique sales catalogues. A hands-on, investigative introduction to the archives, databases, and visual evidence that power real-world recoveries.
13.30–15.00 – The Lost Collection of Strawberry Hill | Led by Dr Silvia Davoli, Senior Curator of Strawberry Hill House. Senior Common Room (Waldegrave Suite)
Peek behind the scenes of a live research project: the search for Horace Walpole’s “lost” treasures. Follow how her team is reconstructing a collection scattered by time, theft, and the auction block.
15.00 – Curator-led Visit to the Exhibition | End the day where the story comes alive — at Strawberry Hill House.
Join us for a special guided viewing of Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger, the landmark exhibition that inspired this Study Day. See two extraordinary Ottoman daggers reunited for the first time in centuries, and explore how art objects travel, vanish, and reappear across time.
Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger: From the Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage | 1st November 2025 – 15 February 2026
A mystery dating back to the court of Henry VIII (1491-1547) has inspired a landmark exhibition at Strawberry Hill House, which reimagines the extraordinary journey of a vanished Ottoman dagger — once believed to belong to the Tudor king — through Gothic collections, Victorian theatre, and the world of curatorial sleuthing.
Strawberry Hill After Dark: Henry VIII’s Kunstkammer – Thursday 22 Jan. 2026 | entry from 6pm, talk at 7pm
Discover Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger in the hush of Strawberry Hill at night, with candlelight flickering on Walpole’s Gothic interiors. Timothy Schroder FSA takes you inside Henry VIII’s Kunstkammer at Whitehall Palace, where treasures like the dagger once embodied royal power and prestige.
Standard Ticket: £25 | Students: £17.50
Strawberry Hill After Dark: Shakespeare Reimagined – Thursday 5 Feb. 2026 | entry from 6pm, talk at 7pm
Wander Strawberry Hill’s gilded rooms by candlelight, drink in hand, before gathering for Professor Robin Simon’s expert talk. “Nothing is but what is not” traces the rise of historical authenticity on the stage, showing how antiquarianism reshaped Shakespeare in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Standard Ticket: £25 | Students: £17.50
