The British Museum becomes the owner of a collection of Chinese ceramics worth 1.2 billion euros

This is the most valuable donation of an object in the history of British museums. The British Museum will receive a donation of Chinese ceramics with an estimated value of one billion pounds sterling (around 1.2 billion euros), a record for the London museum, he announced. Among the key pieces of this donation is a bowl in which Emperor Chenghua (1465-1487) was served wine, explains the British Museum in a press release published Wednesday evening.

The collection, which includes 1,700 pieces, also includes the “Vases of David” which date from 1351 and whose discovery revolutionized the dating of blue and white ceramics. This collection has been on display at the British Museum since 2009 as part of a loan from the Sir Percival David Foundation. The latter decided to donate all these pieces to the museum.

Percival David (1892-1964) was a British businessman with a passion for China. He first visited this country, where he learned the language, exactly a century ago, in 1914. He bought Chinese ceramics until his death, in Europe, in Japan, in Hong Kong and China, constituting one of the finest private collections in the world in this area. In 1929, he had already donated a Ming shrine to the British Museum, which is one of the most beautiful pieces in the museum.

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Le British Museum « is the most suitable place for the collection » by Percival David, said Colin Sheaf, president of the Foundation. She attracted « millions of visitors each year » since it was exposed there as part of the loan, he welcomed.

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 taken by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation »reacted George Osborne, the president of the British Museum. « This is the most significant bequest to the British Museum in our long history. It’s a real vote of confidence in our future »he added.

Founded in 1753, the London museum houses a collection of eight million objects, including the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes, acquired during the colonial era 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, undisplayed pieces, had been stolen. Several hundred have since been found.