The Dr Grice Collection Of Chinese Bamboo And Scholars’ Objects

The Very Essence of Chinese Good Taste: The Dr Grice collection of Chinese Bamboo and Scholars’ Objects

In 1953, in a letter from Soame Jenyns, (of the British Museum) he writes “Dear Dr Grice, … your collection of bamboo carvings was a complete revelation to me. I had never seen anything of the kind before, and I am completely entranced by them … these carvings seem to me to contain the very essence of Chinese good taste in its simplest form.”

Dr John William Hawksley Grice OBE (1891–1976) assembled collections of jade, pewter, ivory and bamboo carvings. His essay “Chinese Bamboo Carving” (Country Life, 1954) was among the first English-language studies on the subject.

Many of the pieces being offered in November have been on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum and have not been on the market for well over 80 years.