The British Museum will be receiving a gift valued at around £1 billion, the highest value gift any UK museum has ever received. The Trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation have announced that they will be donating around 1,700 Chinese ceramics to the London museum, who will now have the largest and most significant public collection of Chinese ceramics outside of the Chinese speaking country.

The 1,700 objects are, however, already at the British Museum, and have been there on long-term loan since 2009. They were collected by Sir Percival David (1892-1964), a Bombay-born British financier who began forming his impressive collection in the early twentieth century. Before his death, David made it clear he wanted his collection visible to the public, writing that “the private collector justifies his existence by providing very necessarily pabulum for the art critic and the art expert”. In 1950, the collection was given to the University of London, where for many years the ceramics were displayed at 53 Gordon Square, used for teaching Chinese art by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). In 2009, they were transferred to the British Museum where all 1,700 objects are displayed in a dedicated room. The ceramics have already inspired many – artist and potter Edmund de Waal first saw the objects aged 16 and described this to be a “foundational experience”.

Recently appointed director of the British Museum, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, stated that “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 collection includes hugely important objects, such as the “David Vases” – made in 1351, these are the oldest blue and white porcelain pieces to be dated. There are also rare pieces of Ru and Guan wares. The collection is comprehensive, including objects from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (from approximately the 10^th-18^th centuries).

The British Museum’s Chairman of the Trustees, George Osborne, called the donation a “blockbuster decision”, enthusing that “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”.