While some collectors wish to remain anonymous, we are honoured to offer ceramics and works of art from the collections of famous, distinguished and, in some cases, pioneering collectors, as well as some formerly owned by, or displayed in, museums from around the world: including James and Marilyn Alsdorf, Robert and Gertrude Anderson, Professor Cheng Te-K’un, The Lord and Lady Hesketh, Dr Ip Yee, Soame Jenyns, Sir Geoffrey Leigh, Countess Moira Rossi de Montelera, Alfred Morrison, Mr and Mrs R. H. R. Palmer, Martha Baird and John D. Rockefeller Jr, The St Louis Art Museum, Ezekiel Schloss and Dr Hugh Shire.

In my time at Spink, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to both Hugh Shire and Soame Jenyns on many occasions. Hugh Shire was present when the Allied Fleet liberated Hong Kong and, as a doctor, he later went to work in Shanghai. A lasting respect and affection for Chinese art began at this time and was further encouraged by his friendships with George de Menasce and Desmond Gure. “A real gentleman” is a much overused phrase, but not in the case of Hugh Shire: he always seemed to have plenty of time to talk and to listen, and his manners were impeccable. Soame Jenyns was also in the military in the Second World War and served in Hong Kong.

Later he became curator of the Chinese and Japanese collections at the British Museum, and he seemed able to bridge the gap between the museum and dealing worlds. He was always generous with his time and hospitality, and any room he entered he filled with his generously proportioned body, voice and personality. In my early days at Spink, I remember his taking me to his club and asking my opinion on some Ming bronze animals. I was somewhat dumbfounded that such a senior museum authority should even consider my opinion worthy of a second thought. It was collectors like Shire and Jenyns who did so much to maintain London as a centre for the collecting and study of Chinese art.

Roger Keverne