Bussock Wood was purchased by Bill and Cherry Palmer in 1963 who brought cherished pieces from various family homes and curated a collection very much of their time, infusing exceptional furniture alongside pictures by artists such as Duncan Grant, Sir William Orpen and Paul Nash, as well as the legendary collection of Reginald and Lena Palmer, one of the finest groups of Chinese porcelain amassed in the 20th century. Here, Howard Palmer, Co-Executer, tells us more about his family and their wonderful collection.

A Personal View by Howard Palmer

I have a vague recollection, at about the age of 7, of being shocked and delighted at the same time by the appearance of Matthew Smith’s Reclining Nude (Lot 170) above the fireplace at our home in Cheshire in 1961. Shocked at the naughtiness of a nude in a picture and worried that I might be told ‘not to stare’ but delighted by the picture itself and also admiring of my parents, who had dared to acquire it and hang it for all to see.

Bill and Cherry Palmer were, I suppose, a little avant garde, although they would have been the last to admit it. They exhibited many very conventional attributes (respectively, Eton, Army, Director in the Family Business. Downe House, Nursing, married at 21), and were proud of them. They moved from Cheshire to Bussock Wood House in 1963, having purchased it from a Palmer uncle who lived down the road. Cherry’s cousin was Sam Beazley (later famous as an aged Harry Potter film star), an accomplished interior designer, and he produced a stunning design for the house which basically remained in place for 60 years. Gradually, the house filled up with pictures which (as a nine-year old) I liked, without having any proper artistic appreciation. I can recall Bill Brooker paintings being added to the Dining Room walls (Shelf End, Lot 120, bought in 1968, joined Gloucester Road, Lot 122 which was there from the outset, but others came in as well on dates which I cannot recall).

A lot more art joined the House in the 1980s. My maternal grandmother, Barbara Gibbs, née Williams, died in 1981. She had been an avid collector, and certain paintings were acquired by Bill and Cherry from the Estate. In particular, they bought from Cherry’s brother David the portrait of Barbara Gibbs, in the year of her marriage, by William Orpen (Lot 16), who was commissioned to paint portraits of all 3 daughters of Trevor Williams. Barbara was 21 at the time. Cherry also acquired the Paul Nash Studio Interior (Lot 186), which had been bought by her mother in the 1930s. Cherry’s taste was unerring (except in one respect – her determination to acquire every sort of artistic delineation of her favourite dog – The Pug) and was surely an inherited family trait. Her parents were keen collectors with a good eye and her brother David had his happiest years working for Arthur Tooth, Marlborough Fine Art and the Pace Gallery in London and America, and alongside Lee Krasner as co-manager of the Jackson Pollock estate. Examples of the Gibbs’ taste are shown in the Duncan Grants (Lots 94 and 224), Cedric Morris (Lot 95) and Allan Gwynne Jones (Lot 65), who served with, and was a lifelong friend of, my grandfather Arthur in the Welsh Guards in the First World War.

Bill and Cherry remained at Bussock Wood for the rest of their lives and threw themselves into local causes, charitable, political and artistic. Cherry did an enormous amount of work for the Red Cross in Newbury and Berkshire, rising ultimately to Divisional President; Bill, as well as working as a director of Huntley & Palmers, was a District and County Councillor, High Sheriff, and Deputy Lieutenant of the County. He supported many local causes close to his heart such as the Grenadier Guards Association and the Pang Valley Scouts. He also served for many years on the Council of the University of Reading where the wider Palmer family, dating back to George, William Isaac, and Samuel Palmer, had been generous benefactors for generations. They were keen supporters of the Newbury Arts Festival, the Newbury Society, the Watermill Theatre and of many local artists and galleries. Whilst the Gibbs ancestry was firmly London based, the Palmers and Cobhams had lived in Berkshire since the 1840s and the connection with the firm of Huntley and Palmers meant that many cousins lived within the county.

There were many more acquisitions of paintings in the 1980s, with Cherry (I believe) being the leading light in the selection. In her last years she was confined to her bedroom and loved nothing more than to discuss the paintings which surrounded her. Edith Sitwell by Percy Wyndham Lewis (Lot 255, originally acquired by Barbara Gibbs); the Mary Newcombs (Lots 179 and 262); The Crucifixion by Craigie Aitchison (Lot 256) – very much a Cherry inspired acquisition in 1968; the Albert Goodwin showing the Amalfi Coast (Lot 198), the site of her honeymoon, which she bought from the Portmeirion Shop in Pont St from the beloved Sam Beazley. And the Edward Lear painting of Turbia (Lot 245) which she bought on sight at the Thomas Agnew gallery in 1982 and was delighted to be rung the next day to be asked by the National Gallery if they could have it instead. ‘No’, was the immediate and clear answer, but she was pleased to tell the story to those who came to visit her in the last few years and admired the Lear. One of those visitors, studying Lear in a post-graduate degree, explained that it was one of an ambitious series (which sadly never came to fruition) of Lear’s producing a series of illustrations for Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poems (hence the ‘AT’ initials in the bottom left-hand corner).

My paternal grandmother, Lena Palmer (née Cobham) also died in 1981 and an influx of paintings, furniture and Chinese Art came to Bill, to be accommodated at Bussock Wood House. The Cobham ancestry had left the beautiful miniatures of Mr. and Mrs. Cobham by William Wood (Lot 86) – and why are Mr. Cobham’s initials ‘JM’? There is a huge story there, of wills changed at 2 a.m. on the day of death and proceedings challenging the will in the Reading Assizes in 1810. Also, from the Cobhams, the oak chairs in the Hall with the Cobham crest (Lot 42) and silver with the same crest. My paternal grandparents passed on wonderful mahogany furniture of superb quality, much of it from great grandparents Howard and Ada Palmer (whose only child was Reginald Howard Reed Palmer – RHRP – who married Lena in 1924). My favourite piece is the wine cooler made by J.T. Needs of New Bond St., (Lot 105) with an unpickable lock by Joseph Bramah (essential for a wine cooler!). This was bought by Howard Palmer in about 1909 for £85. The bureau, Lot 89, comes a close second, with its secret drawer and mirrored compartment with further secret drawers. Although mahogany seems to have become unfashionable nowadays, the tables, chairs and chests of drawers are magnificent. (The more trendy Heals furniture (Lots 200, 298 & 305) of course was Barbara Gibbs’ choice).

As for art, these grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents collected very different art from my maternal grandparents and parents. The oldest recorded acquisition is probably the B. W. Leader painting of Stratford Lock (Lot 50) which was painted in 1885 and bought by William Reed, shortly thereafter. It was then acquired by Howard and Ada Palmer from Wm Reed’s estate in 1920 for 270 guineas (£283.50). There were also many beautifully executed watercolours by Birket Foster bought by three generations of Palmers (Lots 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 227 & 228) at various dates from 1900 to 1984.

There was also an influx of Chinese porcelain, jade, enamels and bronzes from RHR Palmer’s collection, which was extensive and much respected as of excellent quality, but perhaps more so of excellent taste. RHRP bought from dealers in London – Sparks, Bluetts, Spinks, Malletts and others – in prodigious quantities. Bill was almost overwhelmed by this huge collection, but he was delighted to study and appreciate the art and craftmanship involved. He did not need to add to it, but the few purchases he did make (Lots 325, 346, 347, 361 & 370 for example) show a similar taste to his parents’ and grandparents before him. Although RHRP was the predominant collector of the family, his parents had also enjoyed Chinese Art – Lots 385 & 386 are typical examples of their extravagant Famille Verte purchases which have given the family enormous pleasure over 100 years. I personally have also had enormous satisfaction marrying up the individual pieces with ledger entries and receipts kept by my ancestors, some of which only came to light during the clear out of the attics at Bussock Wood – which also disclosed a Louis Vuitton trunk used on my grandmother’s honeymoon Cunard voyage in 1924 (Lot 290)!

We are all, as a family, immensely grateful to our parents and ancestors for allowing us to live with such marvellous treasures (except the hidden trunk) for 65 years and more, and hope others will now acquire them to enjoy them themselves and with their families.

View page turning catalogue

Auction Details

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday 5 June, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

Browse Day One | Browse Day Two
Sign up to email alerts

VIEWING:

• Viewing in London (Highlights)
  • Day Two | Selected items from the Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection
    • Tuesday 14 May: 10am-4pm
    • Wednesday 15 May: 10am-4pm
  • Day One | Contents from Bussock Wood
    • Tuesday 21 May: 10am-4pm
    • Wednesday 22 May: 10am-4pm
    • Thursday 23 May: 10am-4pm
• Viewing in Newbury
  • Day Two | Selected items from the Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection
    • Sunday 19 May: 10am-3pm
    • Monday 20 May: 10am-4pm
    • Tuesday 21 May: 10am-4pm
    • Wednesday 22 May: 10am-4pm
  • Day One and Day Two | Full Sale
    • Saturday 1 June: 10am-3pm
    • Sunday 2 June: 10am-3pm
    • Monday 3 June: 10am-4pm
    • Tuesday 4 June: 9am-4pm
• Remote Viewing Service | Available by appointment from Saturday 1 June
• Dreweatts 360 Virtual Auction Service | Available from Friday 31 May