A British businessman collected Chinese art for years – the current value of the 1,700 pieces is 1.2 billion euros. The art treasures are now being donated to the British Museum. These include two of the most famous porcelain vases in the world.
The British Museum can boast what is probably the most valuable donation in British museum history. The Sir Percival David Foundation donated Chinese porcelain worth one billion pounds (1.2 billion euros) to the museum.
The collection consists of around 1,700 pieces from the 10th to 18th centuries. Among them are the two blue and white “David Vases” (1351) from the Yuan Dynasty, which are considered the most famous porcelain vases in the world.
Some pieces come from the Forbidden City
The businessman Percival David (1892-1964) collected the pieces over decades in several Asian and European countries. Some pieces come from the Forbidden City in Beijing and were reportedly sold by officials towards the end of the imperial period.
The art treasures have been on permanent loan in a special room in the well-known London museum since 2009. The foundation named after Sir Percival David is now finally donating the collection to the museum. The foundation emphasized that it was in the spirit of its namesake to preserve the unique collection as a whole and exhibit it publicly. It should also serve to inspire and educate future generations.
Museum director Nicholas Cullinan expressed his gratitude. The famous objects would provide scientists, researchers and visitors around the world with an incredible opportunity to study the best examples of Chinese craftsmanship, he said.
Image suffered greatly in the past
The donation is excellent news for the museum. Recently, the image had suffered greatly: in the summer of 2023 it became known that around 2,000 objects from the inventory were missing, stolen or damaged. The museum director at the time, Hartwig Fischer, resigned from his position earlier than planned.
The British Museum in central London welcomes millions of visitors every year. It houses some of humanity's most important cultural treasures, such as the Rosetta Stone, which helped decipher hieroglyphs.
