British Museum to receive Historic £1bn Collection Gift of Chinese Ceramic

The collection has been given to the museum by The Sir Percival David Foundation. Sir David was a British businessman whose collection was built from ceramics collected in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China.

The collection has been on loan to the British Museum since 2009. The British Museum describes it as “one of the most important collections of Chinese ceramics of any public institution outside the Chinese speaking world numbering 10,000 objects.”

Director of the British Museum, Dr Nicholas Cullinan thanked the Trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation, adding he was “humbled by the generosity”, while Chair of the British Museum, George Osborne said the decision was a “real vote of confidence in our future”.

The £1bn is markedly more than the British Museum has received in recent history. In 2022, the museum called a bequest by the late Sir Joseph Hotung, valued at approximately £123m, one of the most significant in its history.

Highlight examples from the Sir Percival David collection include the ‘David vases’ from 1351. Their discovery revolutionised the dating for blue and white ceramics. The collection also includes a “Chicken cup” used to serve wine for the Chenghua emperor (1465-87) and Ru wares made for the Northern Song dynasty court around 1086.

Main Image: Ru ware bowl stand © The Trustees of the British Museum