Gentleman's Clubs: Cigars and Brandy; Anyone for a flutter?

About the event

With its cigar smoke, leather armchairs and elderly men snoring, the Gentleman’s Club seems like an absurdly anachronistic institution today.  But for over 250 years clubs were an indispensable part of elite men’s lives; spaces for gossip and dining, a refuge from wives, mistresses and creditors, and a place where they could cement important business contacts and class identities.  Cubs were also a uniquely British phenomenon.  The Brothers Goncourt famously declared that if two Englishmen were washed up on a desert island they would immediately form a club, and if a third came ashore they would instantly blackball him!  This talk explores the history and customs of London’s Clubland from their origins in 17th century coffee houses, to the heyday of club building in the Victorian period, to the denizens of scandal and wild behaviour associated with the Jazz Age.

About the Lecturer

Jo Banham is a freelance curator, lecturer and writer. From 2006-2016 she was Head of Adult Learning at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and before that Head of Learning and Access at the National Portrait Gallery, and Head of Public Programmes at Tate Britain. She has also been Curator of Leighton House and Assistant Keeper at the Whitworth Art Gallery. She has published on many aspects of Victorian and early 20th century decoration and interiors. She recently curated an exhibition on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement for the Juan March Fundacion in Madrid and the Museu Nacional d’Art Catalunya in Barcelona and she is currently writing a book on the History of Wallpaper. She is also Director of the Victorian Society Summer School