OCS Lecture – Chinese porcelain: Depictions in early 17thcentury European paintings
Thursday 2ndMay
The Dr. H. Y. Mok charitable foundation lecture on export ceramics
5:45 for 6:15 pm with welcome drinks sponsored by Woolley & Wallis
Dr. Jan van Campen, Curator of Asian Export Art at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Chinese porcelain: Depictions in early 17thcentury European paintings
Dr Van Campen’s paper will explore what can be learned about the appreciation of Chinese porcelain at the beginning of the 17thcentury from the study of European paintings.
An article entitled ‘Oriental Porcelain in Western Paintings 1450-1700’ by Dr A.I. Spriggs (T.O.C.S volume 36, 1967) has previously discussed this issue. Dr Van Campen will focus on the introduction of porcelain into still life painting, in conjunction with the introduction of porcelain as an affordable luxury item for the middle classes. He will also discuss porcelain in prints and paintings that deliberately depict wealth and affluence, such as Merry Company paintings and ‘Rich Children Poor Children’ prints. His paper will combine information taken from paintings with current ideas about the growing availability and appreciation of porcelain in the early decades of the 17thcentury.
Jan van Campen studied history of art at Leiden University (Phd 2000). He joined the Rijksmuseum in 2001 and is the curator of Asian export art. His main interest is collection history and European history of appreciation of Chinese ceramics. In 2015 he co-curated the exhibition Asia in Amsterdam, the culture of luxury in the Golden Age, and he was the co-editor of the book Chinese and Japanese porcelain for the Dutch Golden Age(2014)
OCS-London
/https://ocs-london.com/2019/current-programme/lectures/