Cultural items valued at more than £2.5 million, including a group portrait by William Hogarth, have been accepted by the government instead of inheritance tax. The items include a group portrait by William Hogarth, thought to depict Catherine Darley, Duchess of Buckingham at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) with two other women, around 1736. The portrait was accepted in lieu of a £630,000 tax bill. Thirty-two 19th century watercolours of Greece by Edward Lear, valued at £297,500, were also accepted, along with an Italianate landscape painting by Jean-Francois Millet, worth £245,000. Arts Minister Tessa Blackstone also allocated eight other previously accepted works to museums, galleries and archives around the country. ‘This initiative offers members of the public much more than an exciting opportunity to see many previously inaccessible works of art,’ Baroness Blackstone said. ‘It also helps to ensure that new acquisitions are widely distributed throughout the country, and operates to the benefit of former owners.’ An archive of typescripts belonging to 20th century novelist, Anthony Powell, was among the recently accepted items, as well as the journals of Robert Curzon, three paintings by John Piper, one by Ivon Hitchens, and the professional archive of the architect responsible for the Royal Festival Hall, Sir Leslie Martin. Works by John Piper which were previously accepted under the tax ruling will go on display at the Tate Gallery (which has been allocated 55 sketchbooks), while two of Piper’s watercolors have also been given to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Theatre Museum and the River and Rowing Museum, Henley on Thames. The Museums of Costume, Manchester, has received a collection of 17th and 18th century clothes and textiles, while two Dutch flower paintings – by Roelandt Savery (1576-1639) and Balthasar van der Ast (1593-1656) – went to the Fitzwilliam Museum and the National Gallery, respectively. Resource, the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, advises the Arts Minister on which items should be accepted by the nation. The organisation's Acting Chairman, Mark Wood, commented: ‘Resource, with overall responsibility for the AIL (Acceptance in Lieu) programme, is delighted that not only uniquely important paintings, but archives of immense cultural significance have now been made available for the public.’ For the full list of items accepted and allocated, visit the Resource website