The 1,700 pieces of world-renowned Chinese ceramics constitute the largest donation in the British Museum’s nearly 300-year history.

Sir Percival David’s collection, amassed in the early 1900s, includes prized vases and wine cups. “You simply couldn’t build up a collection like this today,” one expert said.

The British Museum is to be given Chinese ceramics worth £1bn in what is believed to be the highest-value gift received by a UK museum. The addition of the items from the Sir Percival David Foundation will also make the museum's stock of the antiques one of the most important outside of the Chinese-speaking world.

What is the story behind the objects that represent the British Museum’s largest-ever donation? And which are the best?

Chinese pottery worth £1 billion will be gifted to the British Museum – the most valuable gift in UK history. The museum, in Bloomsbury, London, will receive 1,700 pieces from the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation.

A 1,700-piece private collection of Chinese ceramics with an estimated value of 1 billion euro ($1.27 billion) has been donated to the British Museum -- a record for any UK institution.

The British Museum has received a donation of Chinese treasures worth more than $1 billion from the Sir Percival David Foundation.

Sir Percival David Foundation announced renowned collection of Chinese ceramics is being permanently gifted to the British

The British Museum has received a historic donation of 1,700 Chinese ceramics valued at around 1 billion pounds. Donated by the Percival David Foundation, this is the largest gift in the museum's history.

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.