From the Collection of Wilhelm Montelius (1852-1918), thence by descent. The Montelius family had a long family tradition of being lawyers, Wilhelm however became the Director of Swedish Telephone company Ericsson from 1901 -1916, and his brother Oscar Montelius (1843-1921) became archaeologist and member of the Swedish National Heritage Board. Wilhelm's passion for collecting oriental ceramics and works of art was aided by Ericsson's business in China at the time. Before World War One he managed to send out his staff to acquire several important pieces.