We are often asked where we find our ceramics and works of art, and the answer is, quite literally, from all over the world.
The art of China, the Middle Kingdom, has influenced that of other nations for many centuries as well as absorbing some of the more interesting aspects of culture and art from its neighbours and those countries with which it traded. The West’s interest in China stretches back many years and although its culture and art were at first slow to become appreciated, understood and collected, exhibitions such as the Royal Academy’s International Exhibition of Chinese Art in the winter of 1935 and 1936 led to rapidly growing interest during the latter part of the twentieth century. This is why we are able to acquire Chinese antiques from the four corners of the earth.
Chinese art is today more appreciated than ever and, while some previous owners wish to remain anonymous, we are pleased to have exhibits from distinguished collectors including Colonel Thomas Allen, Edward T. Chao, Alfred and Ivy Clark, Carl Kempe, R. H. R. Palmer, R. F. A. Riesco, Mrs Walter Sedgwick and Osvald Sirén.
Roger Keverne