A unique collection of 17th-century Ming dynasty porcelain was broken up at the weekend following an acrimonious family squabble between the four children of Sir Michael Butler, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher.
The high court had ruled that the 502-piece collection must be divided between the four siblings, despite a bitter battle fought by the two younger children, Katharine and Charles, to retain the ceramics in their purpose-built museum in Dorset.
Sir Michael, a former permanent representative to the European Commission, started collecting the distinctive blue and white ceramics more than 50 years ago. One expert has described it as “the finest collection of its kind in the world”.
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