Donor: Rt Hon Malcolm MacDonald

Production Place: China 

Date range: Neolithic to early 20th century CE

Size of collection: 413 items/groups

The Chinese ceramic collection of the Rt Hon Malcolm MacDonald (1901-1981) is foundational to the Oriental Museum. It is a cornerstone of the Museum’s Chinese collection, which has been awarded the Designated Collection status in recognition of its national and international significance.

The second son of the first Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, Malcolm MacDonald had a successful career as a politician, diplomat and colonial administrator. He was a key figure in the transition from Empire to Commonwealth for the UK, and played an important role in Cold War diplomacy between the UK, China and Southeast Asia. Alongside this busy professional, political life, he also devoted himself to the arts and collecting.   

MacDonald started to collect European art, from ceramic figurines and fine paintings, to antique furniture from a young age, but it was Chinese ceramics that ultimately became his deepest passion. Malcolm MacDonald first visited East Asia in 1929 when, as a recently elected MP, he attended a conference in Kyoto. Already a connoisseur and collector of English pottery, MacDonald’s post-conference travels through Korea and China opened his eyes to the wonders of Chinese ceramics. It was on this visit that he made his first purchase of Chinese art, including a pair of Ming dynasty Buddhist lion candleholders.

In 1946, MacDonald returned to Asia as a senior diplomat. While based in Singapore, he travelled extensively throughout the region and began to collect Chinese ceramics in earnest, especially developing a passion for Chinese classical ware from the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. In 1955 MacDonald was appointed as High Commissioner to India. Reluctant to move his Chinese ceramics to India, MacDonald turned his attention to finding a museum in the UK which would be willing to accept his collection on loan. His search led him to Durham’s recently formed School of Oriental Studies.

The same year, 1956, also saw MacDonald gifting the other half of his collection, mostly Chinese export ware, to the University of Malaya to support art studies. This element of the collection was in turn split in two, and half transferred to the National University of Singapore upon its creation in 1980. MacDonald’s collections are therefore not only foundational for the Oriental Museum, but also for the National University of Singapore Museum and the Asian Art Museum of University of Malaya. The Oriental Museum now has partnerships with both these museums with promising projects being planned. 

The MacDonald Chinese collection remains the most extensively studied group of ceramics within the Oriental Museum, but regular discoveries are still made. 

The online exhibition Beauty and Diplomacy: The Malcolm MacDonald Collections illustrates that MacDonald’s views on art, beauty and collecting were central to his success as a diplomat. 

MacDonald also made important donations to the Oriental Museum's Southeast Asian collections. From 1971 to 1980, MacDonald held the post of Chancellor of Durham University.