Harry Garner
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sir Harry Garner
| image = SirharryandLadyGarner.JPG
| caption = Sir Harry and curator of the Sir Percival David Collection, Margaret Medley.
| birth_name =Harry Mason Garner
| birth_date = {{birth date|1891|11|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Hugglescote, Leicestershire, England1911 England Census
| death_date = {{death date|1977|8|7|df=yes}}
| death_place = Camberley, Surrey, England
| death_cause =
| other_names =
| known_for = Expert of oriental art
| education =
| employer = British government
| occupation = Scientist
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| footnotes =
| nationality = British
}}
Sir Harry Mason Garner {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KBE|CB|FRAeS}} (3 November 1891 – 7 August 1977) was a British aerodynamicist who was also notable as an expert on, and collector of, oriental ceramics.
Biography
Garner was one of three boys and a daughter. His eldest brother, William Edward (1889–1960) was born in Hugglescote in Leicestershire and became an expert in explosives. His other brother Frederic Horace (1893–1964) became a chemistry professor. Harry was educated at Market Bosworth Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. He worked for the British government on aerodynamics leading a group at Felixstowe on marine aviation before becoming chief scientist at the Ministry of Supply.[https://books.google.com/books?id=nPppyXCj1dIC&dq=%22sir+harry+garner%22&pg=PA194 Collectors, collections and museums: the field of Chinese ceramics...], Stacey Pierson, p.194, accessed 6 September 2010
Meanwhile, he became a noted expert and collector of oriental art. He started by collecting Chinese blue and white porcelain, and also wrote on Chinese lacquerware, especially carved lacquer, and published on these and other subjects. In 1954 he recognised the two vases now known as the David Vases as the only fourteenth century blue and white porcelain then known. Garner and his wife made donations of furniture.[http://www.iaros.org/files4DL/RonbunIAROSI.pdf EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS FROM RYÜKYÜ/OKINAWA], Josef KREINER, Bonn, accessed 6 September 2010 He was a friend of Sir Percival David. Both of these made substantial donations to the British Museum. Amongst Garner's collection were the Kakiemon elephants.[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/p/pair_of_porcelain_model_elepha.aspx Kakiemon elephants], British Museum, accessed 6 September 2010
Honours
Harry Garner was appointed CB in the King's Birthday Honours of 1948{{London Gazette |issue=38311 |date=10 June 1948 |supp=y |page=3367}} and was knighted KBE in the New Year Honours of 1951.{{London Gazette |issue=39104 |date=1 January 1951 |supp=y |page=10}} Sir Harry Garner was the last person knighted by King George VI. He was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
References
- [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U154719 GARNER, Sir Harry Mason], Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014
- [http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS270893322&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 Sir Harry Harner] (obituary), The Times, London, 10 August 1977, page 16
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Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Category:People associated with the British Museum
Category:20th-century British ceramists
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath
Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Category:Historians of East Asian art