Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

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1 Bristol Museum and Art Gallery Bristol s Chinese Art Collections Ceramics and Glass Collectors and benefactors Collectors and benefactors The Schiller collection of Chinese ceramics, bronzes and jades made by Ferdinand Schiller and bequeathed by his brother Max Schiller, the Recorder of Bristol, to the Corporation for the purposes of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery or their Old Red House (corrected by codicil to the Red lodge ) in The Burrows Abbey Collection of 17th, 18th and 19th Century Chinese monochrome, engraved, carved overlay and carved relief decorated glass bequeathed to the Art Fund by Henry Robert Burrows Abbey and given to Bristol Museum in The gift of funding by Gilbert Alan Hamilton Wills, Lord Dulverton for the purchase of Chinese ceramics and silver from Sotheby s Sale of the Bruce Collection on 12 May 1953 comprising the collections of Robert Charles Bruce and his great uncle Sir Frederick Bruce Ambassador in Peking , son of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (of the Marbles), and younger brother of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, who ordered the destruction of the Yuanmingyuan Palace, the summer palace of the Qing emperors in

2 The Schiller Brothers The Schiller Brothers German by birth and British by nationality Sons of Johann Christian Ferdinand Wolfgang Schiller, a German merchant banker in Calcutta Sent them to school in England, to Clifton College, Bristol, in the 1880 s. Ferdinand was a contemporary of Roger Fry at Clifton and Cambridge. Ferdinand joined his father s firm in Calcutta in 1888 until Worked in the City of London as a banker until Max became a successful barrister and KC and Recorder (part time judge of Quarter Sessions in Bristol from 1935 to 1946) The batchelor brothers lived together in Surrey, first in Esher and then in Betchworth. 2

3 Ferdinand Schiller at St John s College Cambridge Sitting at the front The Schiller Bequest The Schiller Bequest comprised four collections: 438 Chinese ceramics, bronzes and jades collected by Ferdinand Schiller (with the exception of a small number of items acquired by Max Schiller); 28 European old master paintings collected by both brothers; and Oriental rugs and Classic English furniture collected mainly by Max Schiller. Max Schiller also collected silver but this did not come to Bristol but was given to the Inner Temple of which he was a Bencher and the Treasurer (senior presiding officer) in

4 Ferdinand s collecting why and when? Began after the seminal Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition: Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in 1910 first chance to see Tang and Song pots in quantity. Elected to Burlington Fine Arts Club in November His friend and contemporary Roger Fry significantly involved. They remained in contact. First recorded purchase of oriental object: First Chinese ceramic: After 1910 exhibition Fry turned to pottery of China & set up Omega Workshops where he threw and designed pots. He knew pots of Ferdinand. Fry and the Burlington Fine Arts Club look to be the influences that started him. Ferdinand caught up quickly with the collectors and connoisseurs who became his colleagues: George Eumorfopoulos, Harry Oppenhiem, Robert Benson, W.C. Alexander, and Oscar Raphael (donor names associated with some of our great national museums). Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition of Objects of Chinese Art 1915 Followed the Exhibition of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in Mainly small objects and excluding ceramics. Roger Fry lent a Buddhist sculpture, a Guanyin standing on a lotus throne of The Northern Wei or Sui dynasties ( or ). Catalogue 1915 p.25) Ferdinand Schiller lent 2 pieces (Catalogue pp.5 & 36. The Tang green jade recumbent horse did not reach the Bristol Collection.) Basalt luohan head Early Tang ( ). Illustated Burlington Magazine Vol 27 No 147 (June 1915 p 119) Schiller Collection Bristol (No 2426) 4

5 Collecting metier and era Ferdinand was collecting in a vibrant period of changing taste from Ming blue & white and Qing enamels to an aesthetic which resonated with post-impressionism and modernism. He was a member of a clique of collectors, connoisseurs and curators (exclusively male) who shared their knowledge and experience and examined each other s objects and discussed these at club meetings. Ferdinand was the 13 th member of the OCS founded in January Included leading Museum personalities from the BM and the V&A and highly wealthy individuals such as Eumorfopoulos, Oppenheim, Raphael, and later Percival David - most of the leading collectors in this country at that time. Ferdinand did not travel to China (this was not unusual) but bought from dealers in London, Paris and Amsterdam, our esteemed friends and helpers such as Bluett s who contributed to the proceedings of OCS. Ferdinand had an ample purse but not lavish means and he collected all through the 1920 s Schiller was one of the most respected collectors of Chinese ceramics, credited by his peers with exquisite sense of taste and a very discriminating and critical mind. R.L. Hobson paid tribute to him as a member of the eminent group who set to work to collect the new material. 30 of his pieces were selected for inclusion in the highly prestigious International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the RA in 1935/36. The Plan of the RA marked up with dots to show items lent by the Schillers show how well spread these were in the exhibition and across the different periods, The strength of his Song representation is highlighted. The Schiller collection is particularly strong in Tang wares, Song stonewares, Cizhou and Yingqing objects, Song Longquan ware, Ding ware, and Temmoku glazed tea bowls. These were the wares of the kind for which the new taste was developing. Schiller was in the forefront. He collected very few Ming pieces but what he did acquire and his brother leave to Bristol provided the foundation for the choice collection which Bristol Museum posses. He also collected a small number of Qing pieces of high quality. 5

6 Ferdinand Schiller Collection Tang and Song Dynasties Tang buff coloured pottery ovoid urn with black glaze, splashed brown and blue (N2406) Tang stoneware jar with bluish suffusions on black glaze (N2399) Tang Amphora Vases Amphora vase, stoneware with dragon handles, grey-white cracked glaze; (dated to ) Tang (N2410) Amphora Vase, two dragon/serpent handles, upper portion glazed in mottled green and brown, lower portion unglazed; Tang ( ) (N2378) 6

7 Northern Song Cizhow Wares (10 th to 13 th Centuries) Two meiping vases: with bands of foliage and clouds cream glaze (N2447) and with black floral medallions (N2446). Vase with trumpet neck and striking floral design carved and incised over white slip and glaze (N2445). Southern Song Porcelain: Qingbai Qingbai (or yingqing, meaning shadow-blue) lobate bowl almost egg-shell thin porcelain, characteristic bluish-white glaze with accentuated central ring (probably potted in Jingdezhen). Southern Song dynasty dated to the 12 th to 13 th Centuries (N2454). No doubt intended to replicate silver. Imperial qingbai Stem Cup, yingqing glaze, moulded figures on the outside and small scroll decoration on the inside dated to 11th to 13th Centuries (N2470) 7

8 Ru and Jun Wares Northern Song and Jin Dynasty Northern Imperial Song Ru ware pale blue stoneware bowl (dating to ) (N2535) and one of only 60 to 70 Ru ware pieces surviving in the World (N2535) Bulb bowl with 4 cloud-scroll feet published in the literature in the 1920 s and 1950 s (N2510) with purplish opalescent glaze on the outside and lavender blue glaze on the inside. Jun ware; Northern Song ( ) Stoneware bowl blue/lavender glaze with crimson spiral, Jun ware; Jin Dynasty ( ) (N2517) Temmoku tea bowls (12 th to 13 th Centuries) The collection is particularly strong in temmoku bowls. A.L. Hetherington (1948) Tea bowl, stoneware with black temmoku glaze with bird and insect motif, Chi-an ware, Jiangxi Province, Southern Song Dynasty c.1200 (N2589) Tea bowl, stoneware with deep brown-black glaze with decoration inside of large buff leaf, Jiangxi, Southern Song Dynasty ( ) (N2582) 8

9 Longquan Celadon Celadon dish, moulded dragon chasing the sacred pearl in applied relief under the glaze, Longquan ware; Song (or Yuan) ( (c.1260) (N2538) Schiller s Ming Meiping Vase/Wine-storage jar, Jingdezhen, Ming, c (N2626) Meiping, vessel porcelain with raised slip and enamel decoration in fahua style, Jingdezhen (c ) (N2646) Ming Palace Bowl, with design of lilies in underglaze blue, Chenghua Emperor mark and period, Jingdezhen ( ) (N2616). 9

10 (N2625) Schiller s Qing Dynasty Objects Vase, decoration in underglaze sapphire blue: sampans and fishermen on river bank; Kangxi period Qing ( ) (N2625) Large flat dish, with flowering prunus tree and rocks, Kangxi mark and period; Qing ( ) (N2673) Miniature Vase, sang-deboeuf Lang yao glaze, Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln, Kangxi period, Qing, c (N2679) The Schiller Collection Why Bristol? Ferdinand Schiller died in July 1939 effectively leaving his brother in charge of the destiny of their collections. In October 1938 Max Schiller: Bristol Museum might be an appropriate final home as it would ensure that the collections would not be broken up. Max s attachment to Clifton College and to the City as Recorder of Bristol. Max s interest in the Bristol art collections the Hogarth Altar piece. Max s connection with the Dulverton branch of the Wills Tobacco family through his friendship with Arthur Wills, the grandson of H.O. Wills at Clifton and Magdalene College Oxford. Following Arthur s untimely death in 1905 Schiller became confidante and legal counsellor to the family and a friend of his younger brother Lord Dulverton. The Wills families were great patrons of Bristol City Art Gallery. 10

11 The Dulverton Donation Objects bought from the Sale of the Bruce Collection April 1953 Large Turquoise glazed Fahua guan wine jar Bowl Ming dynasty (c. 1500) (N 5376) Meiping vase Ming dynasty, Tianshun reign ( ) (N5374) British embassy drawing room Imperial bottle (which had belonged to Sir Frederick Bruce) famille rose six character mark of the Qianlong Emperor ( ) (N5377) Burrows Abbey Collection Buddhist altar set; Glass, carved overlay; Four-character mark of the Qianlong reign period ( ) (N ) Exhibited in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy in 1935/36 11

12 Henry Robert Burrows Abbey and his bequest Born in 1872 The family owned hotels and the Kemp Town Brewery and racecourse in Brighton - The Kemp Town Brewery Brighton Limited. Had homes in Brighton & Hove, London and at Kildonan in Sutherland, Scotland where he died on 17 October He had three daughters. Two married and by his Will made in October 1948 he appointed his two sons-in-law as his executors. The Bequest: I bequeath to the Trustees of the National Art Collection Fund (sic) my unique collection of Chinese Glass (which I hope may be called The Burrows Abbey Collection to be dealt with them in such manner as they consider most advantageous for the National interest. Prosperous and expansive famous for his Sedanca de Ville Rolls Royce, also a collector s classic. H.R. Burrows Abbey s Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sedanca de Ville Chassis no. 48UK of which he was the first owner. Sold at auction in Sept 2013 at Beaulieu National Motor Museum by Bonhams. 12

13 The formation of the collection Between 1933 and the time of his death Burrows Abbey bought largely from Bluett s. A collection of collections of Chinese glass also combined with individual objects bought from Bluett s and Spink s (and perhaps other dealers) In 1934 bought through Edgar Bluett the whole of the collection of 148 pieces of Chinese glass of Mr E.B. Ellice Clark ( ) 51 pieces of which had been lent for display to the V&A from 1912 to Also brought together a number of pieces from the collections of Capt. A.T. Warre, A.W. Bahr (in this case again through Bluett s) and Stephen Winkworth. Ellice Clark was the County Surveyor of Hove and Warre also lived there. 13 pieces in Burrows Abbey s collection were exhibited in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy in 1935/36. On his death there were 290 glass objects in his collection now (with some exceptions) dated to the Qing Dynasty (as opposed to Tang and Song). How & why did the collection come to Bristol? NACF asked Basil Gray (BM) to inspect the objects. He was selective and advised that no museum would take the whole collection. The solicitor, Arthur Blunt and the donor s 2 nd son-in-law clearly understood his father-in-law s intention that the collection be kept together. Blunt prepared his case by instructing an expert witness Edgar Bluett. Bluett wrote to his instructing solicitor with his expert opinion to guide the executors in fulfilling the testator s wishes setting out the arguments for keeping the collection together and suggesting the offer of it to Bristol (the first person to make this suggestion). NACF agreed to follow the family s wishes. The National Museum of Scotland and the V&A declined to accept the collection as a whole. Basil Gray had disqualified the BM. The collection was offered to Bristol. The Director and his Committee acted decisively and accepted the whole collection. The rest is history! 13