Sir Michael ButlerGCMG (27 February 1927 – 24 December 2013) was a British diplomat and a collector of 17th century Chinese porcelain. This collection was described by daughter Katharine Butler in her book "Leaping The Dragon Gate".[1]
Butler left the Foreign Office in 1985 and was a director of Hambros Bank 1986–94 (subsequently non-executive director 1994–97 and consultant 1997–98).[3] He was chairman of the council of the Royal College of Art 1991–96 and was a Senior Fellow.[4] He was deputy chairman of the board of trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum 1985–97.
Sir Michael assembled an exceptional collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain, described as "indubitably the best in the world in the context of Chinese 17th century porcelain."[8] After his death, the collection was divided following a High Court ruling, at the end of a lengthy court case involving his four children, which determined that each of his children was entitled to a quarter share, 250 pieces from the 850 collected by Sir Michael were removed from the museum built to house them.[9] But the whole family collection lives in a book by Katharine Butler "Leaping The Dragon Gate" published in 2021 and in the museum reopened with over 650 pieces on display.
Seventeenth century Jingdezhen porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler collections: beauty's enchantment (with Wang Qingzheng), Scala Publishers, 2006. ISBN1857594177
michael, butler, diplomat, michael, butler, gcmg, february, 1927, december, 2013, british, diplomat, collector, 17th, century, chinese, porcelain, this, collection, described, daughter, katharine, butler, book, leaping, dragon, gate, contents, career, porcelai. Sir Michael Butler GCMG 27 February 1927 24 December 2013 was a British diplomat and a collector of 17th century Chinese porcelain This collection was described by daughter Katharine Butler in her book Leaping The Dragon Gate 1 Contents 1 Career 2 Porcelain Collection 3 Personal life 4 Publications 5 References 6 External linksCareer EditMichael Dacres Butler was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College Oxford and joined the Foreign Service in 1950 2 He served in New York Baghdad Paris and Geneva before spending a year as Fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs 1970 71 He was then Counsellor at Washington D C 1971 72 head of the European Integration Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office FCO 1972 74 assistant Under Secretary in charge of European Community affairs 1974 76 deputy Under Secretary 1976 79 and ambassador and permanent representative to the European Communities Brussels 1979 85 Butler left the Foreign Office in 1985 and was a director of Hambros Bank 1986 94 subsequently non executive director 1994 97 and consultant 1997 98 3 He was chairman of the council of the Royal College of Art 1991 96 and was a Senior Fellow 4 He was deputy chairman of the board of trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum 1985 97 Butler was appointed CMG in the New Year Honours of 1975 5 knighted KCMG in the New Year Honours of 1980 6 and raised to GCMG in the Queen s Birthday Honours of 1984 7 He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Portugal in 1998 Porcelain Collection EditSir Michael assembled an exceptional collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain described as indubitably the best in the world in the context of Chinese 17th century porcelain 8 After his death the collection was divided following a High Court ruling at the end of a lengthy court case involving his four children which determined that each of his children was entitled to a quarter share 250 pieces from the 850 collected by Sir Michael were removed from the museum built to house them 9 But the whole family collection lives in a book by Katharine Butler Leaping The Dragon Gate published in 2021 and in the museum reopened with over 650 pieces on display Personal life EditButler was married to Ann Clyde daughter of James Latham Clyde Lord Clyde until 1997 He has four children including Katharine Butler Publications EditEurope More than a Continent Heinemann London 1986 ISBN 0434099252 Chinese porcelain the transitional period 1620 1683 a selection from the Michael Butler collection with Barbara Harrisson Princessehof Ceramics Museum 1986 Seventeenth century Jingdezhen porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler collections beauty s enchantment with Wang Qingzheng Scala Publishers 2006 ISBN 1857594177 Late Ming Chinese porcelain from the Butler Collections Musee national d histoire et d art Luxembourg 2008 ISBN 2879850290References EditBUTLER Sir Michael Dacres Who s Who 2013 A amp C Black 2013 online edn Oxford University Press Dec 2012 Sir Michael Butler obituary The Telegraph London 1 January 2014 No 39763 The London Gazette 27 January 1953 p 572 John Major The Autobiography HarperCollins 2013 page 52 Royal College of Art Senior Fellows Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine No 46444 The London Gazette Supplement 1 January 1975 p 4 No 48041 The London Gazette Supplement 31 January 1979 p 2 No 49768 The London Gazette Supplement 16 June 1984 p 3 Sir Michael Butler Chinese art Retrieved 7 March 2017 Butler Chinese porcelain collection to be divided BBC News 9 September 2016 Retrieved 7 March 2017 External links EditInterview with Sir Michael Dacres Butler amp transcript British Diplomatic Oral History Programme Churchill College Cambridge 1997Diplomatic postsPreceded bySir Donald Maitland Permanent Representative to the European Communities1979 1985 Succeeded bySir David Hannay Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Michael Butler diplomat amp oldid 1112031053, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
