A Chinese Celadon Glaze and Gilt Jardiniere H: 9cm; W: 21cm Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald (1852-1915) was a British diplomat and British Minister to China in 1896. Sir Claude MacDonald was a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG), and was a First Class knight-errant. Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO). Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the civilian version. Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of the Bath (KCB), military version - awarded on November 29, 1900, "for service in recent operations in China," among other honors. On April 24, 1896, he became British Minister to the Qing Dynasty, leased Weihaiwei from the Qing Government, obtained the right to build five railroads including the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway for British merchant groups, and signed the Treaty of Extension of the Hong Kong Boundary with the Qing Government, leasing the New Territories to the Qing Court. During his stay in China, he often discussed Chinese art collection and art research, and once took a photo in front of a Chinese palace. Sir Claude MacDonald's collection of Chinese works of art was so large during his time in China that he traveled between China and Japan from 1900 to 1912, and returned to England with a large collection of Asian works of art, some of which were dedicated to George V. When Sir Claude MacDonald died in London on September 10, 1915, a large number of his works of art were sold to an American collector. The lots in this sale are offered anonymously by the American collector, whose father purchased them from the estate of Sir Donaldson.