'A static collection is a dead collection': how the British Museum is acquiring for a global public

"In March, the Charity Commission signed off on the Sir Percival David Foundation's decision to gift its namesake's extraordinary collection of Chinese treasures-including a pair of blue-and-white David vases from 1351 and a 1,000-year-old Ru ware bowl stand-to the British Museum. The donation, valued at just shy of £1bn, broke all records. It has pushed the museum's Chinese ceramics holdings to 10,000 pieces. The commission ruled that it furthers David's intention that his collection "inform and inspire people"."

"The British Museum Act 1963 clearly outlines a very narrow set of conditions under which the museum is permitted, by law, to deaccession an item (if it is a duplicate or printed matter made after 1850 of which the museum holds a decent photo; if it is unfit to remain or too damaged to be of use). But quite what it does acquire-and how-is an altogether more fluid proposition. Since the museum's founding in 1753, its acquisitions, in shape and method, have altered considerably."

"Today, however, things come into its possession via donations, bequests, purchases and commissions, as well as excavations and the portable antiquities scheme. Two notions-the everyday and the ephemeral-underpin what curators look for. "We want objects that speak and tell a story about how people lived," says Tom Hockenhull, chair of the Acquisitions Committee and keeper of the Money and Medals department since 2022."

In March the Charity Commission approved the Sir Percival David Foundation's gift of an exceptional Chinese ceramics collection — including 14th-century David vases and a 1,000-year-old Ru ware bowl stand — to the British Museum, valuing the donation at just under £1bn and increasing the museum's Chinese ceramics to 10,000 items. The commission judged the gift furthers David's intention that the collection inform and inspire people. The British Museum Act 1963 restricts deaccessioning to narrow cases, while acquisitions have shifted since 1753. The museum's collections include items obtained through conflict and colonial activity, and modern additions come via donations, purchases, excavations and the portable antiquities scheme. Curators prioritize everyday and ephemeral objects that reveal how people lived, reuse practices and social meanings.

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