Page 7 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021

Acknowledgements

This purpose of this Loan Exhibition at Bonhams is to examine certain themes and
developments which influenced forming a collection of Chinese art in 20th century
Britain, through the prism of one famous English collection, formed during the period
by Reginald Howard Reed Palmer and his wife Lena. Between 1924 and 1970,
they assembled a wide-ranging collection, mostly comprising porcelain of the Ming
and Qing dynasties, but also containing significant carved jades, painted enamels
and smaller works of art. Their many purchases represent an illuminating guide to
the range and high quality of Chinese art readily available for collectors to buy from
dealers and auction houses in the London art market, during a period essentially
bounded by the two world wars.

The catalyst for this Exhibition is the outstanding Centenary Exhibition organised and
concurrently presented at the Brunei Gallery, University of London, by the Oriental
Ceramic Society: Collectors, Curators, Connoisseurs: A Century of the Oriental
Ceramic Society 1921-2021. This provides a perfect broader context within which the
Palmers’ collecting tastes and history can be recreated, because of their own affection
and support for the Society over many years. It was decided therefore to select, for
the Bonhams Exhibition, mostly pieces which the Palmers had at some point loaned
to the Society for one of its own occasional but revelatory exhibitions. This theme
provides the thread which runs through our exhibition at Bonhams. It also explains the
consistently high quality of the exhibits, since each one usually has a particular feature
that made it an appropriate example for the OCS, and in two cases the Ashmolean
Museum, to borrow.

Many pieces have been sold from the Collection since 1962 into public and private
collections. Nevertheless, it has still been possible to assemble an impressive range
of fine pieces which illustrate the Collection’s steady evolution. Bonhams would like
to thank the anonymous lenders who have made it possible to reconstruct this series
of loans to the Society, and for the assistance they have provided in assembling the
information contained in the extended footnote to each item. This has ensured that,
as we have always intended, this Catalogue becomes an informative addition to the
academic literature.

Bonhams would also like to thank Dominic Jellinek, custodian of the Bluett archive
and author of the fascinating Introduction, for much help and valuable information
about provenance and acquisition history during the preparation of this Catalogue.
We would also like to thank Richard Nicholson of Willis Towers Watson for the
insurance coverage for the exhibition, and finally to our colleagues, Dr Edward Luper,
Dr Benedetta Mottino, Xiaoye Gu and Rachel Hyman for their efforts in preparing this
Catalogue and special exhibition.

Colin Sheaf Asaph Hyman
Deputy Chairman Global Head, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art