The British Museum has received a record-breaking £1billion ceramic donation, the highest-value object donation in UK museum history.
The museum in Bloomsbury, London, will receive 1,700 pieces of Chinese pottery from the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation.
The pieces dating from the third to the 20th century have been on loan to the museum since 2009.
They are regarded as the greatest private collection outside of China and Taiwan, once being described as the “Rosetta Stone for Chinese porcelain”.
British Museum receives record-breaking £1 BILLION ceramics donation
Wikimedia Commons
The gift now means that the British Museum holds one of the most important collections of Chinese ceramics of any public institution outside of the Chinese-speaking world.
Museum director Dr Nicholas Cullinan said the pottery pieces would offer visitors and researchers “the incredible opportunity to study and enjoy the very best examples of Chinese craftsmanship anywhere in existence”.
George Osborne, the chair of the museum, said: “I am thrilled by this blockbuster decision by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation.
“This is the largest bequest to the British Museum in our long history. It’s a real vote of confidence in our future, and comes at a highly significant moment for us, as we embark on the most significant cultural redevelopment of the museum ever undertaken,” he added.
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A Ru ware bowl stand with a flange in the shape of a flower
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The objects were acquired by David, a Bombay-born British businessman who lived from 1892 to 1964.
He travelled round the world collecting the pieces in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China.
Trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation said he had wanted his private collection to be used to inform and inspire people.
The chairman of the foundation said that it was fitting that a permanent collection was installed 100 years on from David’s first trip to China.
Flask in the collection
PA
George Osborne, the chair of the museum, said: ‘I am thrilled by this blockbuster decision by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation.’
PA
Colin Sheaf added: “His inaugural trip engendered a lifelong love of its art and culture, especially the imperial porcelains made for the use of the emperor and his court, which inspired him to assemble his unparalleled private collection.”
The museum has said that the pieces will be leant to the Shanghai Museum in China and New York’s Metropolitan Museum.
Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant added: “Thanks to the huge generosity of the Sir Percival David Foundation, I am thrilled these world-famous Chinese ceramics will now be displayed permanently in the British Museum, where the collection will educate and enlighten future generations for many years to come.
“I am immensely grateful for this phenomenal act of generosity and very much hope it will help set a trend for others.”
The final transfer of ownership to the British Museum will be subject to the Charity Commission’s consent.
