David Vases

The David Vases are a pair of blue and white porcelain temple vases from Yuan dynasty China, dated precisely to 1351 CE. An inscription dedicates them to a Taoist temple and gives the exact date, making them the key reference point for dating all early blue and white Chinese ceramics.

Standing 63.5 cm tall, each vase features dragons, phoenixes, and floral scrolls in cobalt blue under a clear glaze. Before Sir Percival David acquired these vases, scholars thought blue and white porcelain was a Ming dynasty innovation. The inscribed date proved the technique existed under Mongol rule. The British Museum now displays them as part of the Percival David Collection, the finest assembly of Chinese ceramics outside Asia.