Rothschild Collection

The Rothschild family began its spectacular rise to prominence from a house in the Judengasse in Frankfurt. The five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild established branches of the family bank in five European capitals and used their skill in the placement of government debt to build an enormous family fortune.

The sons of Nathan Rothschild, the brother who came to London, consolidated the family's social position by building large country houses and taking a part in agriculture, philanthropy, politics and country sports. Baron Meyer de Rothschild, Nathan's third son, built Mentmore Towers, which he furnished with a dazzling collection of art and objects dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries. It was a time when the misfortunes of the various European royal families had released on the market a great number of pieces of the highest quality. Baron Meyer and his agents were quick to acquire many masterworks of decorative art from the previous three centuries.

Detail: The Rothschild family house in the Judengasse in Frankfurt.

Baron Mayer had only one child, Hannah, to whom Mentmore was left after he and his wife died in 1874 and 1875. Hannah married the 5th Earl of Rosebery in 1878, bringing this wonderful collection into the Rosebery family. The two continued to add to the collection until Hannah's tragically early death in 1890.

Detail: Hannah de Rothschild in the Grand Hall at Mentmore, by E. Macimer. (click here to enlarge)

At the death of the 6th Earl of Rosebery in 1974, it became necessary to sell Mentmore Towers and most of its contents to pay death duties. Many of the best objects, however, including the contents of the Drawing Room and the porcelain, were brought up to Dalmeny House to complement the Rosebery collection already there.