Private tour of the world-renowned Percival David Foundation collection at the British Museum by PDF Chairman and Bonhams Vice-Chairman, Colin Sheaf, world expert on Asian art and ceramics and long-standing HK Society member, with highlights of Imperial Chinese Ceramics in the Song, Yuan and Ming periods.

Date: Thursday 26th May

Time: 2.30pm (estimated end 4pm).

Price: £20 for HKS members; £30 for non-HKS members (price includes coffee and tea at break.)

Venue: The British Museum, Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG (Room 95 – full details of where to meet will be sent to all attendees prior to the event)

About the collection:

During the first half of the 20thcentury, European scholars and collectors discovered many unfamiliar historical cultures of Imperial China. Traditional Palace life in Beijing’s ‘Forbidden City’ had disintegrated after 1911, under the Republican Government, and for the first time, Imperial art masterpieces began to be offered to overseas private collectors. An English lawyer Sir Percival David, born into Asia’s famous Sassoon trading family, was one of the great Western scholar/collectors who responded in a unique manner to the unprecedented opportunities, both by studying and publishing classical Chinese texts, and by collecting the finest artefacts. Focusing almost entirely on (non-archaeological) Imperial ceramics made between c.1000-1850, Sir Percival assembled what is by unanimous agreement the world’s pre-eminent private collection of Chinese porcelain, currently displayed at the British Museum in a dedicated Gallery.

The group will be limited to 20 people maximum. Please click "Register Now" to send us an email or contact Fiona on communications@hkas.org.uk payment details and to reserve your place.