William Giuseppi Gulland

Snuff bottle, porcelain with decoration in painted enamels, China, 1796-1850, given by W. G. Gulland, Esq.

William Giuseppe Gulland’s abundant collection of Chinese porcelain was left to the Museum, by his will, following the death of his wife in 1932.

William Giuseppe Gulland spent most of his life as a merchant in the East where he developed an interest in Chinese porcelain. He was chairman of Paterson, Simons & Co. from 1877-78 and served as a legislative council member of the government of Singapore. In 1905 Gulland presented to the V&A 180 pieces of porcelain illustrative of the different kinds of glazes used by Chinese factories. The remainder he bequeathed to the Museum subject to the life interest of his wife, Julia Clementina.

When Gulland died in Hove on 6 December 1906, his wife presented a number of pieces in 1907 and the residue of the collection – 526 pieces – was transferred on her death in 1931. A substantial selection of porcelain from the bequest was exhibited at the V&A in 1932.

Information in the V&A Archive

MA/1/G2082/1-4: Nominal file – W. G. Gulland

MA/30/232: Central Inventory register, museum object numbers 132 to 310-1905

Registers of the Gulland Bequest, 3 vols

Selected printed works

Handbook to the W.G. Gulland bequest of Chinese porcelain: including some notes on the subjects of the decoration. London: Board of Education, 1941. NAL pressmark: 96.BB.23

Thorpe, William Arnold. Catalogue of the W.G. Gulland bequest of Chinese porcelain: typescript. [1936]. NAL pressmark: 86.Y.31

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