British Museum receives record £1bn donation of Chinese ceramics

A ‘chicken cup’ from the Percival David collection. Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum

The British Museum has been given a private collection of Chinese ceramics worth about £1bn, the highest-value object donation in UK museum history.

The 1,700 pieces dating from the third to the 20th century have been given permanently by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation. They had been on loan to the London museum since 2009.