British Museum given its most valuable gift ever with Chinese ceramics

The British Museum is to receive what is believed to be the highest-value gift ever received by a UK museum with the acquisition of £1bn worth of Chinese ceramics.

Trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation, which owns the works, are to donate 1,700 pieces following a 15-year loan to the London museum.

The charitable foundation represents the late British businessman, who collected the items in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China, before his death in 1964.

The director of the British Museum, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, said it was an “incomparable private collection”.

The works have been on loan to the museum since 2009 and on show in the specially designed bilingual Room 95.

Sir Percival David was born into a wealthy family in Bombay in 1892 and inherited a baronetcy from his father, as well as ownership of the family company.

The businessman moved to London in 1914 from where he began to collect large amounts of Chinese art and books.

Trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation said he had wanted his private collection to be used to inform and inspire people.

Dr Cullinan said he was “humbled by the generosity of the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation”.

He added: “These celebrated objects add a special dimension to our own collection and together offer scholars, researchers and visitors around the world the incredible opportunity to study and enjoy the very best examples of Chinese craftsmanship anywhere in existence.”

The donation will take the number of Chinese ceramics held by the British Museum to 10,000 pieces, making it one of the most important collections of such items of any public institution outside the Chinese-speaking world.

Highlights from the foundation’s donation include the David vases from 1351, which revolutionised the dating for blue and white ceramics with their discovery.

The collection also includes a chicken cup used to serve wine for the Chenghua emperor and Ru wares made for the Northern Song dynasty court around 1086.

The chairman of The Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Colin Sheaf, said the donation achieved Sir Percival’s three main objectives.

He said these were to: “Preserve intact his unique collection, to keep every single piece on public display together, and to ensure the collection would remain an inspiration and education for future generations.”

Arts minister Sir Chris Bryant added: “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.”

After the donation is completed, pieces will be lent to the Shanghai Museum in China and Metropolitan Museum in New York as part of the British Museum’s support of exhibitions worldwide.

The final transfer of ownership to the British Museum will be subject to the Charity Commission’s consent.