Open House website says:
Acquired in 1532 and rebuilt in 1670 after the Great Fire, the Hall was partially destroyed in 1941 by enemy action and rebuilt in a Neo-Georgian style in 1960. The original charter, portraiture and stained glass are of particular interest.
I walked across Southwark Bridge and along Upper Thames Street to find the entrance to Painters’ Hall tucked away up Little Trinity Lane. On the outside it’s an unremarkable building that I’d likely have passed by but for the big flag and the Open House signs.
It’s not the original Painters’ Hall, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, nor its replacement, which was destroyed by fire in the Blitz of 1941. This one opened after a rebuild in 1961 but contains bits of the earlier hall that survived the bombing. Appropriately the Arms of the Painters and Stainers Company incorporates a Phoenix. Inside it’s what you’d expect a livery hall to be. Wood panelling, decorated plaster ceilings, antique furniture, chandeliers, stained glass. In this case because it’s home to the Painter-Stainers’ Company it’s the setting for an impressive collection of paintings dating from the 17th to the 21st centuries. There are also a number of the company’s ancient documents framed and on display.
The walls of the Painted Chamber are decorated to look like wood panelling and covered by paintings on wooden panels including one called Twenty Kinds of Fish in a Landscape although I couldn’t find all twenty.
Up in the main hall filled with light from its large windows are the paintings of the royals, including an unconvincing one of the late Queen Elizabeth II and all three Charles’s, albeit the current one as a young Prince of Wales in RAF uniform.
A visit to a livery company’s hall is always a good part of Open House and the Painters-Stainers’ is no exception.
There are more photos in my Open House 2024 Flickr Album
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