San Francisco Ceramic Circle
June 7th, 2002 Meeting
"The Living Tradition of Ceramic Production in
Jingdezhen"
William Sargent
Curator of Asian Export Art, Peabody Essex Museum,
Salem, Massachusetts
The July meeting of the San Francisco Ceramic Circle will
be held on Thursday, 11th July in the Florence Gould Theater at
the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, San Francisco.
Entrance is from the West terrace from 7.30pm. The lecture will
start at 8.00pm.
About the Lecture: The production ofporcelain in China today
remains basicly the same as it has been for thousands of years:
the raw materials are still pounded in valleys using water wheels,
many of the potters create traditional wares in the same way as
their predecessors, and decorating by hand follows age old patterns.
Based on a visit to Jingdezhen in the spring of 2000, this talk
illustrates with slides working potters and kiln firing and examines
the meaning of this living tradition to collectors and curators
interested in the field of Chinese ceramics
About the lecturer: William Sargent joined the staff of the
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem in 1978 and became Curator of Asian
Export Art in 1992. Founded in 1799 the Peabody Essex Museum is
the oldest continuously operating museum in the USA and, with
over 18,000 objects, has the most comprehensive Asian export art
collection in the world. He has spent over 20 years with the museum
researching and cataloging the collection and interpreting it
through special exhibitions. He has written two books, published
numerous articles and has lectured extensively on all aspects
of the Asian trade.
Next meeting: Thursday, 15th August 2002. " Sevres porcelain
ant the Huntington Museum" a lecture by Jeffrey Weaver, Associate
Curator, the Getty Museum, Santa Monica , California