Page 14 - The Parry Collection Bonhams London November 2 2021

A Personal Note

My grandfather, Edward Arthur Parry (1879-1946) was specific interests and often adding to it on birthdays and other
a barrister. In 1911 he married Angela Ida Harriet Scully special occasions. My father had a talent for drawing and
(1879-1977), who was the daughter of William Scully, an Irish admired the Chinese skill in using line and space especially
businessman who was very successful in land development on jade and porcelain, the former being particularly difficult to
in America. carve. He was also an historian who respected the centuries
Parry began collecting Chinese art in the late 1910s and of Chinese civilisation and culture and the Chinese tradition, in
artistic terms, of looking back to earlier epochs for inspiration.
continued forming the collection, together with his wife
throughout the 1930s, buying pieces from establishments
such as Spink & Son and Bluett & Sons, who were amongst
the foremost dealers of Chinese art in London. He had
survived the First World War as an officer – the only one of his
male siblings to do so – and he may have found some solace
in the beauty and reverence accorded to these artefacts by
such an enduring civilisation, following the destruction he
witnessed in the war.

In 1935-1936 the International Exhibition of Chinese Art
was held at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House,
London, and six pieces from the Collection were chosen to be
included in this ground-breaking exhibition and were published
in its catalogue. The British patrons of the Royal Academy
Exhibition were His Majesty King George V and Queen Mary.
It is clear from family history that the Queen, who knew my
grandmother, Angela Parry, took an interest in the Collection.
Angela Parry’s exceptional connoisseurship is demonstrated
in that four of the six pieces chosen to be included in the Royal
Academy Exhibition were acquired by her.

Mrs G. N. Parry and Mrs E. A. Parry
G. N. Parry夫人與E. A. Parry夫人

My mother was born in Norway and had inherited the
Scandinavian appreciation of form. Her father ran Hadeland
Glasswerk in Drammen, which created classic glassware. In
Scandinavia, at that time, there was an interest in Chinese
archaeology and its discoveries. In Sweden the future King,
Gustav VI Adolf, was an avid collector and connoisseur and
Norway itself had long produced cobalt or ‘Mohammedan Blue’
for export across the world. Both my parents enjoyed living with
the Collection which was displayed in our home in Chelsea.
Royal Academy International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Burlington House,
1935-6; 1935-6年，中國藝術國際展覽會，倫敦皇家藝術學院伯靈頓宮 Fortunately, many of the original invoices were kept within the
family archives. One of the earliest ones, dated 30th October
The Collection was housed at my grandparents’ home 1919, is for the Qianlong carved lacquer Yixing teapot and
cover bought by my grandfather from Spink & Son. The
in Collingham Gardens in London and later in Deer Park, last one, forty-five years later, is for the 18th century carved
Honiton, and then in Sussex Square in London. My own bamboo vase with a sage, which was acquired by my mother
memories of the Collection at Sussex Square were of a from Spink & Son on 10th December 1964, as a Christmas
cabinet crammed full of fascinating things, elegant shapes gift for my father.
and exotic decoration. They inspired questions and a search
for knowledge. My parents, Geoffrey Norman Parry (1917- The Collection has brought great interest and pleasure to
1978) and Randi Parry (1923-2013), added to the Collection three generations of the Parry family and we hope that it will
between the 1940s and the 1960s, pursuing their own bring just as much joy to present and future collectors.

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