Sir Michael Butler (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 Katharine Jibba Butler (born November 1967) is a British businesswoman and art historian. Early life Butler was born in London in November 1967. She is the daughter of British diplomat Michael Butler (diplomat), Sir Michael Butler and Ann Cl ...

in her boo
"Leaping The Dragon Gate"

Career

Michael Dacres Butler was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

, and joined the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1950. He served in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

before spending a year as Fellow at the

Harvard Center for International Affairs Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

1970–71. He was then

Counsellor Counselor or counsellor may refer to: A professional In diplomacy and government * Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability * Counselor (dipl ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, 1971–72, head of the European Integration Department at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO) 1972–74, assistant

Under-Secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

in charge of

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

affairs 1974–76, deputy Under-Secretary 1976–79, and ambassador and

permanent representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

to the European Communities,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, 1979–85. Butler left the Foreign Office in 1985 and was a director of

Hambros Bank Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The Bank ...

1986–94 (subsequently non-executive director 1994–97 and consultant 1997–98). He was chairman of the council of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

1991–96 and was a Senior Fellow. He was deputy chairman of the board of trustees of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

1985–97. Butler was appointed CMG in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1975, knighted KCMG in the New Year Honours of 1980 and raised to GCMG in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

of 1984. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of Portugal The Order of Merit ( pt, Ordem do Mérito) is a Portuguese Honorific Order of civil merit intended to award those responsible for meritorious acts or services performed in the exercise of any functions, both in the public and the private sphere, w ...

in 1998.

Porcelain Collection

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." 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. But the whole family collection lives in a book by

br>"Leaping The Dragon Gate"
published in 2021 and in the museum reopened with over 650 pieces on display.

Personal life

Butler was married to Ann Clyde, daughter of

James Latham Clyde, Lord Clyde James Latham McDiarmid Clyde, Lord Clyde, (30 October 1898 – 30 June 1975) was a Scottish Unionist politician and judge. Life Born on 30 October 1898 at Heriot Row, Edinburgh, Clyde was the eldest son of Anna Margaret McDiarmid (''d''. 1 ...

, until 1997. He has four children, including

Publications

*''Europe: More than a Continent'', Heinemann, London, 1986. *''Chinese porcelain, the transitional period, 1620-1683: a selection from the Michael Butler collection'' (with

Barbara Harrisson Barbara Harrisson (born ''Barbara Veronika Gertrud Maria Elisabeth Güttler'',Princessehof Ceramics Museum The Princessehof Ceramics Museum (in Dutch: Keramiekmuseum Princessehof) is a museum of ceramics in the city of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. The museum's name comes from one of two buildings in which it is housed: a small palace ( means ‘royal ...

, 1986 *''Seventeenth century Jingdezhen porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler collections: beauty's enchantment'' (with Wang Qingzheng), Scala Publishers, 2006. *''Late Ming : Chinese porcelain from the Butler Collections'', Musée national d'histoire et d'art, Luxembourg, 2008.

References

BUTLER, Sir Michael (Dacres)
''Who's Who 2013'', A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012

External links

Interview with Sir Michael Dacres Butler

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Michael Dacres 1927 births 2013 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to the European Union People associated with the Royal College of Art People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) British expatriates in the United States British expatriates in Iraq British expatriates in France British expatriates in Switzerland