The Trustees wish to stress that the paintings at Chequers Court are not in public ownership. In accordance with the aims of the Chequers Trust, which is a private institution, its paintings are included on this website for the principal benefit of wider academic awareness. The collection derives from two principal sources. The primary collection is of paintings acquired by the owners of Chequers and their families, almost entirely portraits, inherited with the house by Lord Lee in 1909. The second collection consists of paintings acquired by Lord Lee to supplement the primary collection. Lord Lee particularly sought to acquire portraits of the heroes of the late 16th to early 18th century period, including Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Clarendon, Prince Rupert, Sir Francis Bacon and the Duke of Marlborough, but he also purchased a representative collection by major British artists (Rembrandt, Constable, Reynolds, Van Dyck, etc.). Chequers Court is the private home of the Prime Minister and there is no public access.