Chinese Treasures

摘要

For more than fifty years one of London's best kept secrets for potters, collectors and enthusiasts for Chinese art was a matchless collection of Chinese ceramics displayed in a large Bloomsbury town house, just a short walk from the British Museum. The basement contained a library on Chinese ceramics while the top floor originally housed the apartments of the collection's creator - Sir Percival David, a member of the Sassoon banking family. The main collection was installed chronologically over three floors, with a gallery for temporary exhibitions on the ground floor. Here, in daylight, and often in solitary contemplation, visitors could study and enjoy some o the finest Chinese ceramics ever made. This was a public museum, established and endowed by Sir Percival David, and eventually left to London University's School of Oriental and African Studies. The house and collection became known as the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art.