After his marriage in 1920, David began to collect Chinese art, and to study the Chinese language. He first visited China in 1923, and became fascinated by Chinese ceramics, devoting most of the rest of his life to their study and collection. He joined the Oriental Ceramic Society in 1930 and then sponsored exhibitions in London. He translated the "Ge Gu Yao Lun", a fourteenth century Ming period manual by Cao Zhao. This was published as "Chinese Connoisseurship: The Ko Ku Yao Lun, The Essential Criteria of Antiquities". (Faber & Faber, 1971).