Volume 15 Issue 3
September 2012
A Letter from the President Dear China Students’ Club Members, The 2012-2013 season of the China Students’ Club promises to be an exciting year for enthusiasts of history, travel, archaeology, and intrigue....and, of course, ceramics. Anne Lanning, our program chair, has worked her magic yet again, organizing an impressive roster of speakers on diverse topics. In celebration of the consistently high quality of our programs, I’d like to challenge each of you to bring a guest to one of this year’s lectures. Introducing new people to the China Students’ Club will strengthen our remarkable organization and expand our audience. As Debbie Bassett has often noted, “this is not your grandmother’s ceramics club!” Our lives are rich with opportunities and that occasionally means that we are regrettably unable to attend a lecture. But thanks to Shards and the hard work and creativity of Jeffrey Brown and Sean Blanchet, the newsletter’s co-editors, we all have the opportunity to enjoy (or relive) these lectures and track important events in the ceramics world. I want to take this opportunity to thank them both for their efforts on behalf of us all. I look forward to seeing many of you on Thursday, September 27 to hear Aaron Miller speak on “The Far East in the Northeast: 17th and 18th century excavated Chinese export porcelain from Ferryland, Newfoundland,” our inaugural lecture of the season! Yours in pots, Karina Corrigan, President
In Memoriam: H. A. Crosby Forbes (1925 -2012)
One would like to think that are many people like Crosby Forbes in the world, that they didn’t break the mold when he was created, but that is not probably the case. He was unique, a singular scholar and gentleman of the first order – if there ever was one, he was the one. A descendant of China trade merchants, his life was steeped in the history of the trade that would instill in him a life-long love of the art and history of that cross-cultural interaction. That would lead him to study history at Harvard, to teach, to establish the China Trade Museum, to form the Asian export art department of the Peabody Essex Museum, to write extensively on many aspects of China trade art (particularly silver), and to develop one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian export art in the world. His gentlemanliness was an integral part of his being, from his gracious manner to his genuine enthusiasm for people and their stories, from his intense interest in and love of the arts of the China trade to his impeccable suits tailored in Hong Kong, from his rush to open a door or to help a lady on with her coat. Always energetic, bursting with humor and yet seriously committed to art and politics, he was always up for a good conversation. The man was eminently lovable and loved by all. These qualities easily translated into the universal (literally) affection he engendered. His easily convinced great collectors to hand over their significant collections and financial support for his efforts to build the collection that now reflects the success he achieved, seemingly effortlessly. Ceramic collectors Pamela Cunningham Copeland, Elizabeth McCall Cain, and J. A. Lloyd Hyde, and silver collector Jane Lunger, were some of the major collectors who succumbed to Crosby’s charms, along with myriad numbers who
donated individual works of art. Every collector, art dealer and auction house staff in the field fell under Crosby’s spell. I can speak personally about Crosby, having sat next to him for 15 years and having worked and socialized with him until his move to Connecticut in 2011, where he was closer to his son and grandchildren. Cros hired me in Milton in 1978, but he did not just give me a job, he gave me a career, he gave me a wonderful life, and many of my friends are because of him. He was not just a co-worker, but a treasured mentor and more importantly, a dear friend. Crosby Forbes’s name is synonymous with the field, and he is, without argument, the greatest treasure of the Asian Export Art department and for which the Silver Galleries at PEM bear his name, and a chair was established in his honor. I was proud (as Karina Corrigan is now) to be called the H. A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art. His legacy will last, in the hearts of those who knew him, in his scholarship, and in the collections and department he created. William R. Sargent, (former) H. A. Crosby Forbes Curator Asian Export Art, Peabody Essex Museum
Great Things Come in Small Packages April Meeting Reviewed by Jeffrey Brown Commonwealth Avenue was in full bloom for our April meeting at the College Club where our group was treated to a talk by fellow member Lee-Ann Chellis Wessel. Lee-Ann is a potter and owner of Demi-Tasse Miniatures; she spoke to the Club on “Thirty Years of Making Ceramic Miniatures”. Lee-Ann, who holds both a B.A. and a Master’s Degree in ceramics, found herself shortly after graduating thirty years ago, married, and at home with a newborn baby. Casting about for something to do, she began to create miniature ceramics for her mother who was decorating a doll’s house. The popularity of her creations, when shown to her mother’s fellow doll house enthusiasts, planted the seed for Demi-Tasse Miniatures, her at-home business creating ceramic miniatures. Needless to say, the process requires little space; a small studio off her kitchen, a potter’s wheel, and an electric kiln not much larger than a countertop appliance. The range of styles that her work encompasses, though, requires a design and resource library that buries the pottery! Lee-Ann soon realized that if there is an object in the world, whether it be silver, ceramic, needlework, furniture, glass, you name it, there is, somewhere, a miniaturist trying to make a tiny version of it. Lee-Ann’s work, like most miniaturists, is done in a 1/12th scale, one inch equaling one foot. She actually throws her tiny creations from a hump of clay on a potter’s wheel or, sculpts the form in jeweler’s wax and makes a slip mold. Objects are hand-painted with the finest of brushes and fired in the little kiln. What is utterly amazing is that Lee-Ann renders the designs on the object by “eyeballing it”. The only mechanical means she uses is a magnifying glass, otherwise the image is painted on the piece, proportion, scale, detail, all condensed from the original in her mind’s eye. She started out creating miniature copies of salt-glazed stonewares, but has, over the years, been captivated and challenged to produce tiny copies of almost every conceivable ceramic ware: English and Dutch
delftwares, redwares and slipwares, mochaware, creamware, Chinese Export porcelains, Arts and Crafts vases and tiles, even Renaissance maiolicas. Lee-Ann’s work is sought after by collectors, has been sold in museum gift shops such as at Historic Deerfield, and is actually in several museum collections. She also teaches at a miniaturists’ summer camp held each year in Maine. Illustrated here are just a few of the hugely impressive miniature ceramic creations of our gifted fellow member, Lee-Ann Chellis Wessel.
Lecture Year Ends with Talk on Chinese Export Porcelain Reviewed by Jeffrey Brown The China Students’ Club of Boston concluded the 2011-2012 program year with its Annual Meeting and Tea at the College Club on the 24th of May. After the business meeting concluded and before members could indulge in the famous annual tea, they were treated to a fine lecture given by fellow CSC members and avid Chinese Export porcelain collectors Filomena and Paulo Cunha Alves. The collecting couple took turns at the lectern speaking on “Western Scenes on 18th Century Chinese Export Porcelain: A Few Examples from a Private Portuguese Collection”. Paulo and Filomena came to Boston and to the CSC by way of his posting here as Portuguese Consul. This job has moved them around the world and wherever they’ve lived, they’ve collected, over the years focusing their attention on Chinese Export porcelain depicting Western scenes. Within this category they are, at present, concentrating on maritime, interior, hunting and religious scenes.
Chinese Export Porcelain The Hunter�
Western Figures in a Chinese Interior
"Batavia"“
Portugal was the first European country to trade with China during the 16th century, bringing back to Europe Ming Dynasty wares that took the West by storm. The Jesuits and other missionaries were the first to order pieces for liturgical and daily use and, after them, the Portuguese royal family and then the nobility, all ordered extensive dinner services decorated with their coats of arms. During the 18th century, virtually every noble family possessed at least one Chinese Export dinner service. Chinese porcelain became a very important part of the material and social culture of the time; it displayed status and refinement, and was used to mark special events as in an alliance through marriage, or simply to demonstrate the wealth of its owner. It became part of the cherished heritage of the country, for instance, when King Joao VI and the majority of noble families fled to Brazil in 1807, escaping the Napoleonic invasions, they took their porcelain with them; remnants of this exodus still showing up and being collected in Brazil to this day. When Paulo and Filomena started collecting after they were first married they had a few cherished pieces of Chinese Export that had belonged to their families that had been made for the Western market. With the advice of a mentor, they refined and focused their collecting on this theme, specializing in a 130 year period from the about 1690-1820, covering the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing. This focus on European subject matter went well with their other collecting interest: 18th century French engravings. Many prints and drawings and paintings were sent to China during this period to be copied onto porcelain, sometimes with marvelous accuracy, and other times with the Chinese taste and perspective prevailing, creating a totally new scene. To understand the inspiration and story behind each scene allows one to build a great emotional connection with the piece. Illustrated here are a few of these cherished examples from the Alves collection. We sadly must report that Paulo’s tour of duty here in Boston has all too soon drawn to
an end, and he and Filomena and their son are returning to Portugal. Their knowledge and expertise, their warmth and charm shall be sorely missed.
Rare Mediterranean Port Scene on Chinese Export Porcelain
Upcoming Events Two major antiques events are coming up this October. The first is the ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show, taking place on Columbus Day weekend, October 6 and 7 at Lee Academy, Deerfield, MA. The second, is the Ellis Antiques Show, taking place in the Cyclorama in Boston’s South End. That show runs from October 18-21. Both are top-tier events with pre-eminent dealers displaying beautiful objects; please check their individual websites for show hours, lecture times and directions...enjoy!