A cardboard Easter egg in the collection at Lanhydrock, covered in paper depicting lots of rabbits at a wedding — An Easter egg in the collection at Lanhydrock, Cornwall | © National Trust Images/Lynda Aiano

Art and collections

Explore one of the world’s largest art and heritage collections. With more than one million objects at over 200 historic places, there's many stories to discover.

Detail of embroidered panel by Joan Lander in the collection at Sunnycroft, featuring a design of a rabbit holding a pennant surrounded by stylized flowers

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The story of Easter in our collections

Take a closer look at some of the Easter objects in our collections. From a religious holy day to a time for family traditions, discover the origins of Easter and the symbolic egg.

Servants bells, above the door to the study, for Lord Grey's room and dressing rooms at Dunham Massey

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Country house communication through the ages

Learn how innovations in country house communication technology, from sprung bells to early telephones, transformed the ways servants could be summoned.

Detail of the highly decorated ceiling of the Boudoir, attributed to Louis-Andre Delabriere at Attingham Park, Shropshire

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Collection items inspired by romance

Many items in our collections have been inspired by historic romance and passionate real-life relationships. Take a look at this selection of works of art and tokens of love from the places we look after.

NARCISSUS 'THE INCOMPARABLE DAFFODIL' by Georg Ehret, 1753. Botanical illustration situated in Gallery IV (the Botanical Gallery) at Dudmaston, Shropshire.

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Spring scenes in our collections

Spring's promise of new beginnings has been an inspiration to artists and designers for centuries. Discover spring through some of its most evocative depictions in the collections and objects we care for.

A notepad with a watercolour painting by Beatrix Potter being held up to the camera

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The stories behind the works of Beatrix Potter

Explore the stories behind the illustrations, sketches and letters of this legendary author, preserved at her former home in the Lake District.

A painting of a young man casually lying on the ground in a green woodland glade. He wears ornate blue and white Elizabethan-style trousers and bodice and he has a dark brown beard and moustache. Behind him, in another woodland glade, there are two horses and another figure.

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Where to see great masterpieces in our care

Works from Velázquez and Rembrandt are among the treasure trove of paintings from Europe that hang at the places we look after. We preserve more than 13,000 oil paintings in total.

Paintings on display in the Upper Gallery at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire

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About the collections in our care

See the breadth of our collection of works of art, furniture and more: we care for around a million objects at over 200 historic places, there’s a surprise discovery around every corner.

Portrait of Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex painted by Daniel Mytens the elder, housed in wooden frame

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Our latest collection acquisitions

Discover some of the most recent acquisitions and the stories behind them, from paintings and objects kindly donated to the National Trust to those purchased with funds raised thanks to the generosity of visitors.

Historic photographs show the gardens of Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst Castle, Kent

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Loaning items to exhibitions

Explore just some of the paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, ceramics and furniture that we lend to museums and galleries around the world, so they can be enjoyed by millions of people.

Iron and Coal on Tyneside in the 19th Century by William Bell Scott (1811–1890) at Wallington, Northumberland

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Cultural Heritage Publishing

We publish two illustrated research journals every year, containing expert insights into our places and collections, curatorial content, and the latest conservation news.

Blue and white china hanging on a dresser in the kitchen at Buckland Abbey

How to donate an object or collection

If you have an object or wider collection that you’d like to donate to us, please contact our Registrar Team by email at collections.donation@nationaltrust.org.uk or by post at Collections Registrars, National Trust, Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2NA.

Conservator vacuuming a tapestry chair seat using monofilament screening to protect loose threads from the suction of the special museum upholstery tool in the Long Gallery at Osterley Park, Middlesex

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How to care for your precious objects

National Trust conservationists know a thing or two about protecting valuable items. Get some top tips to protect your precious objects.

Close view of part of carved armchair with beetle damage, from the Drawing Room at Ickworth, Suffolk

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Expert tips for tackling insect pests that damage clothes, paper and furniture

A National Trust conservator explains how to identify insect pests like clothes moths, carpet beetles and silverfish and prevent the damage they can do in your home.