Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art
The Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art is a collection of Chinese ceramics and related objects, which can be seen today in the British Museum in London, England.
History of the collection
A native of the Jewish Sassoon merchant family, later Sir Percival David seized in 1927, the occasion, the first objects that had been stolen from the Forbidden City in Beijing or pledged by the Empress Dowager to acquire. He took off in 1930 different catalogs to the collections of the Imperial Palace, and could purchase more items for his collection.
The collection was shown in 1931 for the first time at London's Dorchester Hotel and swapped in the Second World War. At the same time built Percival David a professor of Chinese art and architecture at the Courtauld Institute of Art, which is part of the University of London. In order to hold the collection and extensive library, he established a foundation at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University and settled there also the Chair of.
1952, the collection was made available to the public and exhibited in a building on Gordon Square in London. The collection contains about 1700 objects. The exhibition since 1952 part of a small collection of Mountstuart Elphinstone.
Exhibition today
The collection was not issued for lack of funds since 2007 and went on an exhibition trip to Japan and the United States. She found since 2009 in Room 95 of the British Museum a new home. Among the highlights include some rare objects of Ru yao and two approximately 63 cm high blue and white temple vases from the Yuan Dynasty in the year 1351st