No . 133 The Trusty Servant
Ambidextrous , antediluvian , analogous , approximate , ascetic , anomalous , carnivorous , coexistence , coma , compensate , computer , cryptography , cylindrical , disruption , ergotisms , electricity , exhaustion , ferocious , follicle , generator , gymnastic , hallucination , herbaceous , holocaust , insecurity , indigenous , jocularity , literary , locomotion , medical , migrant , mucus , Prairie , prostate , polarity , precocious , pubescent , therapeutic , suicide , ulterior , ultimate , and veterinarian . Not all his words caught on and he was inclined to get carried away with his own verbosity . Browne once described pinecones and the flower heads of the teasel plant as ‘ uncous , calicular , favaginous , spicated arbustetumated abstersions ’!
So , how was Thomas Browne best known ? At the time he was a scientist and doctor but today he is most remembered as a writer over a huge range of academic fields . Personally , I think of him as one of the forefathers of modern Biology and annually we award the Thomas Browne Medal to a pupil in the Biology top year who has shown themselves to be the best experimental biologist or medic in the year . This is a fitting tribute to one of the leading Wykehamical thinkers of the past 500 years .
Anthony du Boulay ( C , 43-46 )
Harvey White ( G , 49-54 ) beside the plaque for which he was the principal mover and shaker ( Page 21 ). The plaque is inscribed : Thomas Browne 1605 - 1682 Polymath Botanist Physician Philosopher and is decorated with quincunxes .
The following Obituary of Anthony du Boulay ( C , 43-46 ) is reprinted with permission from the Daily Telegraph :
Anthony du Boulay , who has died aged 92 , was one of the world ’ s leading authorities on Chinese ceramics . In a career spanning more than half a century , chiefly as the head of Christie ’ s ceramics department , du Boulay saw his field transform from a rarefied world of gentlemen collectors pursuing pieces in regional auction rooms , to the realm of multi-million-pound transactions and global headlines .
Du Boulay ’ s own journey was no less remarkable . He joined Christie ’ s in 1949 as a teenager and spent several years on the front desk – a period he described as a ‘ fantastic and virtually unpaid practical education in all things that sold at auction ’ – before heading its fledgling porcelain sales , previously included in furniture auctions .
‘ The ad hoc way Christie ’ s set about getting a porcelain specialist in the 1950s was amateurish beyond belief ,’ wrote John Herbert in Inside Christie ’ s . ‘ Amazingly it worked and Anthony ’ s judgment became acknowledged in spite of his youth .’
Initially , du Boulay was on the back foot . The rival house Sotheby ’ s had a highly regarded authority in the field in Jim Kiddell , and , following the celebrated Goldschmidt sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings in 1956 , the company was known for its dynamic auctions .
Christie ’ s , which focused on the country-house set , was seen as the more traditional option – it still sold in guineas – but in du Boulay they acquired a spirited figure .
‘ I was let loose to catalogue for virtually every ‘ fragile ’ department ,’ he recalled . Lots ranged from English and European ceramics to Classical antiquities and ‘ the entire gamut of Asian art ’.
In the late 1950s and 1960s , the buyers were a small coterie of dealers seated around a green baize-covered three-sided table , passing around objects for inspection . ‘ Invariably , I would be selling to a familiar face ,’ du Boulay said .
But in the early 1970s the market for Chinese porcelain shifted , with the arrival of Japanese buyers including the antiques dealer Goro Sakamoto and the property developer Seijiro Matsuoka .
Du Boulay went on to enjoy several senior positions within Christie ’ s management , with periods in their Geneva , Paris and New York salerooms ; and he appeared as an expert on Antiques Roadshow and its precursor , Going For a Song .
He forged friendships with many prominent collectors , including Major and Lady Eileen Duberly , although his response to some buyers could be cool . In 1959 , when Christie ’ s handled the contents of Sutton Place
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