EVENT DETAILS

"From Object to Concept" with Stacey Pierson, University of London

Join the Literary Journalism Program for a talk by Professor Stacey Pierson of
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, about her
new book, "From Object to Concept: Global Consumption and the Transformation
of
Ming Porcelain" (Hong Kong University Press 2013). Co-sponsored by the
Department of East
Asian Languages and Literatures, and the Department of Art History.

Free and open to the public; all welcome! For more information or for disability
accommodations,
call (949) 824-6876. Humanities Gateway is Building 611 on the campus map:

http://communications.uci.edu//documents/pdf/UCI_12_map_campus.pdf

Parking is available in the Mesa Parking Structure (14A on the map below):

http://communications.uci.edu//documents/pdf/UCI_12_map_vis_pkg.pdf

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ABOUT "FROM OBJECT TO CONCEPT":

Ming porcelain is among the world’s finest cultural treasures. From ordinary
household items to
refined vessels for imperial use, porcelain became a dynamic force in domestic
consumption in
China and a valuable commodity in the export trade. In the modern era, it has
reached
unprecedented heights in art auctions and other avenues of global commerce.

This book examines the impact of consumption on porcelain of the Ming period and
its
transformation into a foreign cultural icon. The book begins with an examination of
ways in which
porcelain was appreciated in Ming China, followed by a discussion of encounters
with Ming
porcelain in several global regions including Europe and the Americas. The book
also looks at the
invention of the phrase and concept of ‘the Ming vase’ in English-speaking
cultures, and concludes
with a history of the transformation of Ming porcelain into works of art.

ABOUT STACEY PIERSON:

The former curator of the Percival David Foundation, Stacey Pierson is a senior
lecturer in the History of Chinese Ceramics at the School of Oriental and African
Studies, University
of London. Dr. Pierson is the author of numerous studies on Chinese ceramics,
including "Chinese
Ceramics: A Design History" (V&A Publications 2009), and "Collectors, Collections
and Museums:
the Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960" (2007 Peter Lang). Her
current research is
focused on the history and influence of collectors' groups and learned societies on
the development
of the discipline of art history in Britain.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff31635.php