The donation of 1,700 pieces from the Percival David collection is the largest in the history of British museums.
This is the most valuable object donation in the history of British museums. The British Museum is to receive a donation of Chinese ceramics worth an estimated £1 billion (approx. €1.2 billion), a record for the London museum, it has announced. Among the highlights of the donation is a bowl in which the Chenghua emperor (1465-1487) had wine served to him, the British Museum explained in a statement released on Wednesday evening.
The 1,700-piece collection also includes the “Vases of David” dating from 1351, the discovery of which revolutionized the dating of blue and white ceramics. The collection had been on display at the British Museum since 2009 on loan from the Sir Percival David Foundation. The Foundation has now decided to donate all the pieces to the museum.
British Museum
Percival David (1892-1964) was a British businessman with a passion for China. He first visited the country, whose language he had learned, exactly a century ago, in 1914. Until his death, he bought Chinese ceramics in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China, building up one of the world’s finest private collections in this field. In 1929, he had already donated a Ming shrine to the British Museum, one of the museum’s finest pieces.
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The British Museum “ is the most appropriate location for the “ by Percival David,” said Colin Sheaf, President of the Foundation. It attracted “ millions of visitors every year ” since it was exhibited there as part of the loan,” he enthused.
The Trustees of the British Museum
Ceramics from the collection will be loaned to the Shanghai Museum and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. “ Wow! I am delighted with this exceptional decision by the Trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation. “reacted George Osborne, Chairman of the British Museum. “ This is the largest bequest to the British Museum in our long history. It is a real vote of confidence in our future. “he added.
The Trustees of the British Museum
Founded in 1753, the London museum houses a collection of eight million objects, including the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes, acquired in colonial times and claimed by Greece. The famous London museum was at the center of a scandal when it announced in 2023 that 2,000 objects from its collections, mainly small pieces not on display, had been stolen. Several hundred have since been recovered.