The Michael Butler Collection – Sun Yue
On July 7, Jan Stuart and Jessica Harrison-Hall from the Asia Department of the British Museum brought me to visit Sir Michael Butler’s collection, a 3 hour drive in Jessica’s car, arriving at 11am. Michael Butler is a typical English gentleman: his collection of late Ming Chinese ceramics is very famous in China, and important for ceramic research – so I felt very fortunate to visit the collection.
In the gallery, with Xu Jing, Jessica Harrison-Hall, Michael Butler, Jan Stuart, Ding Pengbo and Sun Yue
I walked around the gallery, handled vessels, and Sir Butler said ‘you can see and take picture of all my collection, and if you find some mistakes, please point them out’. This comment makes it very clear how Michael Butler is a true scholar.
I’m really grateful for the chance to visit the collection – and thanks to Jessica for her expertise and 6 hours driving!
Sun Yue