San Francisco Ceramic Circle Illustrated Lecture 

Suzanne Perkins-Gordon, Decorative Arts Historian, Author and member of the SFCC and CIETA

SFCC lectures are complimentary for Museum visitors

About the talk: This talk examines the art and history of French chocolatières, originally used for serving the beverage hot chocolate, and their distinguishing characteristics. It discusses ceramic and metal vessels, primarily Sèvres porcelain and silver or silver-gilt, as well as works of art which depict the drinking of hot chocolate and show the cultural context of the use of the chocolatière.

About the Speakers: Suzanne Perkins-Gordon is an art historian who studied art at The Art Institute of Chicago, The San Francisco Art Institute, and Smith College, where she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching in Art. She also earned a Master in Business Administration degree from the Haas School of Business in Berkeley. Art museums in which she worked include the Berkeley Art Museum and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Her fields of specialization in the decorative arts are the history of European textiles and ceramics. She has researched ceramics in the the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Louvre) in Paris, the Manufacture National de Céramique in Sèvres, the Musée national Adrien Dubouché in Limoges, and other museum archives and private collections.

Recently Suzanne Perkins-Gordon authored a chapter, "Is It A Chocolate Pot? Chocolate and Its Accoutrements in France from Cookbook to Collectible," in Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage (New York: John Wiley Co., 2009). She has given talks for, among others, the Costume Society of America-Western Region and the Camron-Stanford House Museum. She has also worked with California Lawyers for the Arts in San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Institute, the American Decorative Arts Forum (an Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), the American Association of Museums in Washington, D.C., and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Next lectures:

Sunday, April 11, 1.30 PM. Reinventing Porcelain: Celebrating the Meissen Manufactory’s Tricentennial.
Malcolm Gutter, Collector, Author and member of the SFCC.
Note: this lecture will be presented at SFO Airport, International Terminal Museum at 1.30 PM.