The photo shows Lady Lever Art Gallery.[Photo courtesy of National Museums Liverpool]

One of the most important collections in Europe of Chinese porcelain has been given a new home after a multi-million dollar facelift at a national museum near Liverpool.

Artifacts from China form a stunning collection at the Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight, a garden village built for factory workers by the soap manufacturer William Lever.

One of the stars of the collection is a famous life-size figure of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy.

The collection contains objects primarily from China's Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods and earlier ceramics of the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties (2nd century BCE to 14th century AD).

Dr. Yupin Chung, an art historian, curator and consultant in Chinese art, is a leading expert on the Lever collection at the gallery which is part of the state-run National Museums Liverpool (NML).

She said: "Chinese art was a significant area of collecting for Lever, and not just a passing interest. Ceramics, in particular, were one of his passions. His preference was for porcelain of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). However he believed the gallery should also show a selection of earlier pieces."