Page 18 - The Parry Collection Bonhams London November 2 2021

Royal Academy, International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-36

The Collection was formed by Edward Arthur Parry (1879- 1792-1794, but Queen Mary added to the Royal Collection,
1946) and his wife Angela Ida Harriet Parry (née Scully) most notably with a five-story pagoda in red and green
(1879-1977). Their taste was not characteristic of many of lacquered wood, and brass (no.2029). A copper lobed box
the members of the Oriental Ceramic Society. It is evident and cover with painted enamel decoration, bearing the four-
from a group of pieces from their Collection that exquisite character mark of the Qianlong Emperor (no.2132), is related
workmanship, fine materials and aesthetic beauty were of in style to the Beijing enamel melon-shaped teapot, Qianlong
great importance to them. They were drawn particularly to four-character mark and of the period, which was bought by
objects of the 18th century, especially the labour-intensive Mrs Parry from Spink in September 1925. The box and cover
lacquers, enamels and jades. The dealer most suited to their was a gift presented by the Royal Family to Queen Mary in
taste, and from which they probably made the majority of 1948 on her 81st birthday.
their Chinese purchases, was Spink and Son. The Parry’s
finest lacquers, the ‘picnic basket’ (unusual in having its The Parrys taste for painted enamels was shared by a
original containers still in place), the mixed media table screen number of their contemporaries, notably the great collectors
(lacquer, ivory and cloisonné enamel), the chrysanthemum- of Chinese ceramics, Alfred Clark (1873-1950) and R.H.R.
shaped lacquer cup and cover dated to 1776 and the Palmer (1898-1970), and the daughter of Viscount Bearsted,
remarkable pair of Kingfisher feather panels, all came from the Hon. Nellie Ionides (1883-1962). Enamels from these
Spink, bought between 1925 and 1933. collections are illustrated by R. Soame Jenyns and William
Watson, Chinese Art: The Minor Arts, vol.2, London, 1963,
The publication in 2016 of Chinese and Japanese Works chapter 5.
of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, by John
Ayers, illustrates a wealth of little-known objects. The first In comparison to Chinese lacquer, jade and enamels -
section of volume III, Non-Ceramic Works of Art from China, ceramics do not seem to have had a strong attraction for
includes many pieces either purchased by, or given to, Queen the Parrys. He had been an occasional customer of Bluett &
Mary. Among these are a number of pieces that are similar to Sons in the mid-1920s and had bought six pieces of carved
pieces in the Parry Collection, and it is interesting to note that lacquer in 1926-1927, all of which had been consigned to
according to the family, Queen Mary, who was also alongside Bluett by their agent in Peking, Captain W.F. Collins (1865-
King George V a Royal Patron of the Royal Academy 1935- 1948). Parry visited Bluett’s exhibition of the Liddell Collection
1936 Chinese Art Exhibition, was familiar with the Collection. of Chinese Porcelain in June 1929, perhaps drawn by the
A quartz brush washer in the form of a lotus leaf (no.1911) advertised origins of the collection in China, formed there by
relates to the jade lotus pod bought by Parry from Bluett in Captain Liddell between 1877 and 1913. He may also have
May 1928, and a lapis lazuli censer and cover (no.1922) is been tempted by the prospect of ‘unique examples of Imperial
very similar to the vessel bought by Parry from Spink in March 18th century porcelain’ promised in the firm’s publicity. Parry
1925. The Royal Collection is rich in 18th century lacquers, bought a small group of porcelains towards the end of the
thanks to the many pieces presented to King George III by the run of the exhibition. Among these were two Kangxi Imperial
Qianlong Emperor following Lord Macartney’s Embassy of ‘Month cups’ with delicately enamelled decoration. There

16 | BONHAMS