The K. S. Lo Collection at Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware

Established in 1984, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware is a branch museum of the Hong Kong Museum of Art under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It is dedicated to the collection, display, and study of tea ware and its related culture. The cornerstone of the museum’s collection is based on a donation of tea ware from Dr K. S. Lo in 1981. Consisting of approximately 600 ceramic and purple clay tea vessels and related relics dating from the Western Zhou dynasty to the twentieth century, these treasures also helped revitalise the historic building that was selected to house the museum. Later, in 1994, the K. S. Lo Foundation generously donated 25 articles of rare ceramic ware and more than 600 seals owned by Dr Lo to the museum, a contribution that led to the establishment of the K. S. Lo Gallery.

The Museum of Tea Ware occupies the heritage building Flagstaff House, also known as Headquarters House, which had served as the residence of the Commander of the British Forces in Hong Kong until 1978. Constructed between 1844 and 1846 in the Greek Revival style, this two-storey mansion stands as the oldest surviving example of western architecture in Hong Kong. Flagstaff House was designated as a monument under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance in 1989.