The head of the British Museum has defended the acquisition of an “extraordinary” collection of more than 500 historic Chinese ivories, as public attitudes to the modern-day trade in ivory harden.
The collection of ivory figurines of deities and immortals, sewing boxes, brush pots and other “exquisite” objects mainly from the 17th to 19th centuries was amassed by the Shanghai trader Sir Victor Sassoon in the early 20th century.
It has been in England since the 1950s and, following Sassoon’s death in 1961, was looked after by a trust that last year donated it — along with an endowment for its upkeep — to the museum.
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