Studio A designs new British Museum ceramics gallery

The British Museum’s new ceramics gallery opens today, with design by Studio A.

The museum appointed rostered consultancy Studio A in September 2007 to create a gallery to house the Sir Percival David Collection of 1700 Chinese ceramic objects, dating from the third to the 20th centuries.

Studio A responded by creating a ‘library’ of ceramics, with the 200 most important objects displayed in the middle of the room and the rest arrayed in cabinets around the walls.

The tall, narrow wall cases are intended to evoke traditional royal Chinese display methods, and allow visitors to ‘see everything at a glance’, according to a spokeswoman for the British Museum.

Four touchscreen computers will offer visitors information and close-up photographs of the objects.

The gallery is part of the new Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies. The collection has moved to the British Museum from its previous home at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.