The Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art (abbreviated as the PDF) holds a collection of Chinese

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

and related items assembled by

Percival David Sir Percival Victor David Ezekiel David, 2nd Baronet (21 July 1892 – 9 October 1964) was a Bombay-born British financier who is best known as a scholar and collector of Chinese ceramics. He also formed a collection of Chinese stamps and pos ...

that are on permanent display in a dedicated gallery in Room 95 at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. The Foundation's main purpose is to promote the study and teaching of

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based in or draws on Chinese ...

and culture. The collection consists of some 1,700 pieces, mostly of

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

, Yuan,

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

and Qing dynasty porcelain from the 10th century to the 18th. It includes a painting, ''Scroll of Antiquities'' ( , 1728,

Yongzheng , regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro ...

's reign). The collection concentrates on pieces in the "Chinese taste" rather than export wares, and on Imperial porcelain, much of it Jingdezhen ware. It includes examples of the rare Ru and

Guan ware Guan ware or Kuan ware () is one of the Five Famous Kilns of Song dynasty China, making high-status stonewares, whose surface decoration relied heavily on crackled glaze, randomly crazed by a network of crack lines in the glaze. ''Guan'' mean ...

s and two important Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain temple vases (the " David Vases"), the oldest dated blue and white porcelain pieces, from 1351. The Foundation also has a large library of Western and East Asian books related to Chinese art; this and archival material are housed in the library of

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

(SOAS), University of London. In 1950, the Collection was presented to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

by Sir

. His collection was displayed in a house in

Gordon Square Gordon Square is a public park square in Bloomsbury, London, England. It is part of the Bedford Estate and was designed as one of a pair with the nearby Tavistock Square. It is owned by the University of London. History and buildings The ...

and used as a focus for the teaching of Chinese art and culture at SOAS. The collection has been on display in a special room at the British Museum since 2009.

History

Percival David started collecting Chinese art some time around 1913, and he continued to do so until his death in 1964. He first visited China in 1923, and there he gained an appreciation of Chinese ceramics. In 1925 he helped finance and mount an exhibition of many of the best items of the imperial collection in the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifi ...

in Beijing. In 1927, he acquired some items that were originally from the Forbidden City when they came onto the market. Many of these items were sold off by members of the

Imperial Household Department The Imperial Household Department (; mnc, , v=dorgi baita be uheri kadalara yamun) was an institution of the Qing dynasty of China. Its primary purpose was to manage the internal affairs of the Qing imperial family and the activities of the inn ...

during the late Qing dynasty, and

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...

allegedly used these items as collateral for loans from the Yuin Yeh Bank in 1901. David managed to buy some forty pieces one way or the other and export them to the United Kingdom. In 1930, he again returned to China and helped with various exhibitions and produced a series of catalogues of the pieces. However, much of the acquisition history of David's collection was unrecorded, but he may have acquired many of the items through various dealers, auctions and other collectors. The

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

'David Vases' in the collection were acquired from two separate sources. Many pieces were likely once owned by the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

emperors, and several pieces have inscriptions added by the orders of the Qianlong Emperor (1736–95). The pieces assembled by Percival David form the most important single collection of Chinese ceramics outside of China and Taiwan. In 1931, David's collection was displayed in the Dorchester Hotel in London. It remained there until it was evacuated to the countryside during World War II. David also created a Chair in Chinese Art and Architecture at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, which is part of the

. Towards the end of his life, he was determined to keep the collection together, and to this end entered negotiations with the University of London. An agreement was reached to keep the collection and the library together in a foundation attached to SOAS. The chair that David had created was also moved to SOAS. Previous holders of the chair, called the Percival David Professor of Chinese and East Asian Art, include

William Watson William, Willie, Bill or Billy Watson may refer to: Entertainment * William Watson (songwriter) (1794–1840), English concert hall singer and songwriter * William Watson (poet) (1858–1935), English poet * Billy Watson (actor) (1923–2022), A ...

, Roderick Whitfield and

Craig Clunas Alistair Craig Clunas (born 1 December 1954 in Aberdeen, Scotland) is Professor Emeritus of History of Art at the University of Oxford. As a historian of the art and history of China, Clunas has focused particularly on the Ming Dynasty (1368–16 ...

. The current incumbent is Shane McCausland. The collection was opened to the public on 10 June 1952 in a house in

, Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art - geograph

The Foundation has lent many of its pieces to other countries. It lent many items of

porcelain to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

's 700th-anniversary celebration of Marco Polo's expedition. It has also sent other items to places as far away as Japan and the United States. The Library collection was a working library, open to researchers from around the world.

Relocation

Due to a funding crisis, the Gordon Square building housing the Foundation's collection closed at the end of 2007. The ceramics collection has been loaned on a long-term basis to the

, where the whole collection, about 1,700 objects, is on permanent public display in a specially designed new gallery (Room 95,

) opened on 23 April 2009, sponsored by Sir Joseph Hotung. The public gallery is part of the Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies, which includes facilities to use the collection for teaching. ''Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection'', by Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall, was published in April 2009 by the British Museum Press to coincide with the opening of the new display.

Collection

David focused his collection of

Chinese ceramics Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since Chinese Neolithic, pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the List of Palaeolithic sites in China, ...

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Whether vi ...

s and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

from the 10th to the 18th centuries (

to Qing dynasties), with a few earlier pieces from the

Six Dynasties Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD. The Six Dynasties period overlapped with the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms ...

to the Tang. The earliest piece in the collection dates from the third-century

Western Jin Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

. There are no pieces from the earlier periods of Chinese history because David chose not to collect any Chinese earthenware; the development of earthenware is found all around the world, and David's collection aims to give a representative overview of the development of ceramics that is unique to China. He chose the pieces based on the quality of the workmanship and historical importance with a view towards education. Many pieces were imperial wares of the Ming and Qing dynasty, and he collected an unusual number of the rare Song dynasty

Ru ware Ru ware, Ju ware, or "Ru official ware" () is a famous and extremely rare type of Chinese pottery from the Song dynasty, produced for the imperial court for a brief period around 1100. Fewer than 100 complete pieces survive, though there are ...

. Just before the opening of the collection in 1952, the foundation was also given a small collection of mostly monochrome porcelain belonging to

Mountstuart Elphinstone Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...

. At the British museum, the collection of the 1,700 items starts with the David Vases placed before the main space of Room 95. Around two hundred of the best pieces are displayed in cases in the centre of the room, with the remaining 1,500 pieces arranged more compactly in rows of glass shelves around the room. File:Ru ware, Percival David Collection DSCF3044.jpg, Case with over 5% of the world's surviving

, File:Percival David Collection DSCF3122 01.jpg, A selection of

Jun ware Jun ware () is a type of Chinese pottery, one of the Five Great Kilns of Song dynasty ceramics. Despite its fame, much about Jun ware remains unclear, and the subject of arguments among experts. Several different types of pottery are covered by ...

s File:Percival David Collection DSCF3122 12.jpg, Longquan celadon covered vases File:Jin Cizhou ware wine bottle.jpg, Cizhou ware wine jar, for an inn, 1115–1234 File:Bowl with peony design BM PDF 704.jpg, Ming bowl with peony design, PDF 704 File:Moon flasks. Famille rose. Qing 1723-35. Sir Percival David Collection, British Museum.jpg, Moon flasks in '' famille rose'' (right) and ''

doucai ''Doucai'' () is a technique in painting Chinese porcelain, where parts of the design, and some outlines of the rest, are painted in underglaze blue, and the piece is then glazed and fired. The rest of the design is then added in overglaze enamel ...

'' (left), Qing 1723–35 File:Dish with dragons chasing flaming pearls.jpg,

Wucai ''Wucai'' (五彩, "Five colours", "Wuts'ai" in Wade-Giles) is a style of decorating white Chinese porcelain in a limited range of colours. It normally uses underglaze cobalt blue for the design outline and some parts of the images, and overgl ...

dish with dragons chasing flaming pearls, Ming, Longqing mark and period, 1567–1572, PDF 798 File:Yuan Jingdezhen dragon and pearl dish.jpg, White dragon on a blue ground, produced with a rarely-used technique, Jingdezhen, Yuan dynasty File:Percival David Collection DSCF3245 05.jpg, Vase with peach blossom glaze, Jingdezhen, Kangxi period. PDF 579 File:Percival David Collection DSCF3111.jpg, Xing ware from the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

File:Tea bowl. Southern Song. Ding ware. British Museum.jpg, An unusual black-glazed Ding ware, Northern Song File:Percival David Collection DSCF3085.jpg, Monochrome porcelains, Qing dynasty File:Percival David Collection DSCF3114.jpg,

Yaozhou ware Yaozhou ware () is a type of celadon or greenware in Chinese pottery, which was at its height during the Northern Song dynasty. It is the largest and typically the best of the wares in the group of Northern Celadon wares. It is especially famous ...

box File:Percival David Collection DSCF3661 13.jpg, Chicken cup in ''

'' File:British Museum - Room 95 (22756055933).jpg,

Snuff bottle Snuff bottles were used during the Qing Dynasty to contain powdered tobacco. Smoking tobacco was illegal during the Qing Dynasty, but the use of snuff was allowed because the Chinese considered snuff to be a remedy for common illnesses such as ...

, painted porcelain, Qianlong period File:Percival David Collection DSCF3585 01.jpg, Ge ware, vase based on an ancient bronze form, Yuan dynasty File:Dish with the path to the island of immortals.jpg, Swatow ware dish with the path to the island of

immortals Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

. Unusually for the collection, popular ware for export File:Percival David Collection DSCF3247 01.jpg, '' Falangcai'' porcelain, Qing dynasty

References

External links

British Museum, Room 95
including
Google virtual tour

BBC audio file
''

A History of the World in 100 Objects ''A History of the World in 100 Objects'' was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, consisting of a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor. In 15-minute presentations broadcast on ...

''
Illustrated catalogue of Ch'ing enamelled wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art
from SOAS University of London
A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics
from the Metropolitan Museum of Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Percival David Foundation Of Chinese Art 1952 establishments in the United Kingdom Chinese pottery SOAS University of London Former private collections in the United Kingdom *Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art Arts foundations based in the United Kingdom Chinese porcelain