Wych Cross Place

A 16th century house on the site was demolished in 1891 and replaced with the current house in 1904

£20,000 or £30,000,000

A painting thought to have been the work of one of Rembrandt’s pupils has been identified as a self-portrait from 1635.

Mr van de Wetering, the chair of the Rembrandt Research Project, said researchers in 1968 had concluded the painting – which features Rembrandt’s signature and is dated 1635, when the artist was aged 29 – was likely to have been done by a pupil.

More interesting is the half-told story of how the painting became the property of the National Trust. Buckland Abbey says: “Our Rembrandt portrait was part of a group transferred from the estate of the late Lady Samuel of Wych Cross.” Lady Samuel was the widow of Lord Harold Samuel of Wych Cross (1912-1987), who built “the most distinguished private collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings to be assembled in England since the war.” The bulk of the collection, 84 old masters, was willed by Lord Samuel upon his death to the city of London, where it graces Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor. Eight paintings not included in the bequest, including the Rembrandt, were left to Edna, Lady Samuel. When she died in 2008, she left the paintings to the National Trust, with the proviso that each of her two daughters was free to choose one for herself.

Neither daughter chose the Rembrandt. Why? Because, a leading London auction house had assured them that the painting was not worth more than about £20,000. So the daughters chose paintings that had sentimental value for them. They and their children are awestruck that the National Trust now puts a value of £30,000,000 on the painting.

Harold Samuel

Baron Samuel of Wych Cross

Edna

Lady Samuel of Wych Cross

Harold Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross
(23 April 1912 – 28 August 1987)
was the founder of Land Securities, one of the United Kingdom's largest property companies. Born in Finchley in north London and educated at Mill Hill School and the College of Estate Management at Lincoln's Inn Fields, Harold Samuel initially trained to be a surveyor. He married Edna Nedas in September 1936 and they went on to have three daughters. He established himself as an estate agent but in 1944 acquired Land Securities Investment Trust, a small property concern owning three modest properties. After World War II he focused on securing bomb sites in Plymouth, Exeter, Hull, Coventry and Bristol and redeveloping them. He built the business into one of the largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. He was knighted in 1963, and was created a Life Peer on 3 July 1972 taking the title Baron Samuel of Wych Cross, of Wych Cross in the County of Sussex.