PHILIP HEWAT-JABOOR, who died almost two years ago, was a truly civilised collector. As he said when interviewed in 2019: ‘I’ve never believed in the difference between contemporary works of art and traditional works of art. To me, objects are either good or bad, beautiful or ugly, whatever their age or origin. Connoisseurship, beauty and taste are really what one should be looking for. I know they’re very old-fashioned words, but they underpin the whole ethos of what we do.’
Connoisseurship was in his family—he learned much from a grandfather who put together a notable collection of Chinese porcelain and from an uncle who had a flair for displaying beautiful things. The uncle was also a friend of Peter Wilson, the transformative chairman of Sotheby’s, who advised Hewat-Jaboor to enrol on the Sotheby’s Works of Art course and subsequently to join the firm’s new Victorian saleroom in Belgravia. ‘I was extremely lucky
