Gorer v Lever - National Museums Liverpool

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probably not dissimilar to those reproduced in the Burlington Magazine article. 27Whether Gorer was aware of Lever’s passion for design and planning or not, thiswas a trump card to play. More than the process of collecting itself, Leverseemed to obtain the greatest pleasure from conceiving and achieving theperfect display, whatever the material.Although Lever made no immediate response to Gorer’s letters, the seed wasplanted and the following summer he purchased a blue & white beaker vase for£350. 28 This was from the Sir William Bennett Collection, a part of which Gorerhad just secured and which went on show during May and June of 1910. Theexhibition was accompanied by an illustrated catalogue written jointly by Edgarand his client (Fig.4). 29 Sir William Bennett (18521931), was an eminent Londonsurgeon who had built up a distinguished collection of predominantly Kangxiperiod ceramics and had been a client of Duveen Brothers. 30 The acquisition ofsuch a collection must have delighted Edgar, not least because it was to be theplatform from which he launched his entrée into the American market. Gorer issaid to have been instrumental in taking the best of the Sir William Bennettcollection to the U.S. where it formed the nucleus of some of the finest Americancollections. 3127Edgar Gorer to William Lever, 5 November, 1909, Gorer Papers.28Edgar Gorer to William Lever, 6 June, 1910, Gorer Papers.29Edgar Gorer and Sir William Henry Bennett, A Collection of Rare Old Chinese PorcelainsCollected by Sir William Bennett KCVO, London, 1910.30For further details see his entry on CARP:http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/admn/php/carp/search.php.31CARP entry.10
Fig. 4. Supper set from the Sir William Bennett Collection.The Richard Bennett AffairThe collection of another Bennett, this time Richard, would be Gorer’s next majoracquisition, but one fraught with difficulty, not least as regards his relationshipwith William Lever. In a letter of 19 th May, 1911, Gorer invited Lever to viewprivately the Richard Bennett collection of Chinese porcelain he had justacquired. 32 He followed up with a further letter of 6 th June, in which he made itclear that this collection should not be confused with that of Sir William Bennett,for fine as this may have been, ‘is entirely eclipsed by the present one, and it isadmitted by such competent authorities as Mr. Claude Phillips, Mr. Roger Fry,32Edgar Gorer to William Lever, 19 May, 1911, Gorer Papers. Gorer succeeded received anumber of distinguished guests at the Private View on 24 May, including the Duchess ofNorthumberland, Lords Balcarres, Basing, Boston and Kitchener, the Countess of Harewood, theChinese Minister and the Spanish and Russian Ambassadors, ‘Court Circular’, The Times, 25May, 1911, p.13.11
Page 1 and 2: Gorer v Lever: Edgar Gorer and Will
Page 3 and 4: English ports and growing seaside r
Page 5 and 6: powderblue with famille verte ena
Page 7 and 8: China, Japan and India. There is no
Page 9: Paris, which he firmly rejected. 25
Page 13 and 14: Fry. 37 Sometime in June, Lever dec
Page 15 and 16: Fig. 6. Hulme Hall this view was
Page 17 and 18: executed in red and black ink on fo
Page 19 and 20: so peremptorily, literally on the d
Page 21 and 22: during the meeting but Gorer, who w
Page 23 and 24: shipped most of the remaining part
Page 25 and 26: prejudices that ran through British
Page 27 and 28: considered to be the finest private
Page 29 and 30: Bond Street. 83 It seems likely tha
Page 31 and 32: New York Times of 8 th May carried
Page 33 and 34: James Henry Duveen described Edgar

Gorer v Lever - National Museums Liverpool

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