The British Museum said on Wednesday it would receive 1,700 pieces of world-renowned Chinese ceramics worth around 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion), in the largest donation in its nearly 300-year history. The collection, which has been on loan to the British Museum since 2009, has been donated by the Percival David Foundation. Examples from the collection include the blue-and-white 'David vases' from 1351, a tiny porcelain wine cup from the late 15th century known as a 'chicken cup', one of the most sought-after items in Chinese art, and 'Ru wares', artefacts dating back to the late 11th century.英国博物馆周三宣布，将接收大约10亿英镑（12.7亿美元）的1700件世界知名中国瓷器，这是其近300年历史上收到的最大一笔捐赠。这批藏品自2009年起一直由大英博物馆借展，现由大维德基金会捐赠。藏品中包括1351年的青花“大维德花瓶”、15世纪晚期被称为“鸡缸杯”的小型瓷质酒杯（中国艺术品中最受追捧的物件之一），以及可追溯至11世纪晚期的“汝窑”瓷器。 "This is the largest bequest to the British Museum in our long history," said George Osborne, chair of the British Museum. "It's a real vote of confidence in our future."“这是大英博物馆漫长历史上收到的最大一笔遗赠，”大英博物馆馆长乔治·奥斯本说，“这是对我们未来的真正信任投票。” Thanks to the donation, the British Museum said it would hold one of the most important collections of Chinese ceramics of any public institution outside the Chinese-speaking world, numbering 10,000 objects. Born in 1892, Percival David was a British businessman whose passion for China inspired him to study the language and collect ceramics - mainly objects of imperial quality or of traditional Chinese taste - to build his private collection. British arts minister Chris Bryant said the collection would "educate and enlighten future generations for many years to come".得益于这笔捐赠，大英博物馆表示，其将拥有非中文母语国家公共机构中最重要的中国瓷器藏品之一，藏品数量将达到1万件。大维德出生于1892年，是一名英国商人，他对中国的热爱促使他学习中文，并收集陶瓷制品，主要是具有皇家品质或中国传统风味的物品，以建立自己的私人收藏。英国艺术部长克里斯·布莱恩特表示，这批藏品将“在未来许多年里教育和启迪后代”。 The British Museum said it would loan some of the ceramics to the Shanghai Museum in China and Metropolitan Museum in New York to support exhibitions there. Porcelain was first produced in China around AD 600, and it is by far the most advanced in the world. The ceramic artefacts were made for the imperial court, for the domestic market or for export.大英博物馆表示，将把一些瓷器借给中国的上海博物馆和纽约的大都会艺术博物馆，以支持当地的展览。器大约公元600年在中国首次出现，且迄今为止中国瓷器在世界上最为先进。这些陶瓷制品是为朝廷、国内市场或出口而制作的。
