Cross-Currents of Design: East to West and West to East in Ceramic Design May 12, 2010

During the past fifty years, several New Orleans collectors developed a serious interest in aspects of Asian porcelain manufacture. Among these were Robert C. and Dorothy Fleury Hills, Hewitt S. Law, Jr., Lillian Pulitzer, and Robin and R. Randolph Richmond, Jr. All of these collectors made bequests of their collections, placed them on long-term loan, or presented them as gifts to the Museum during their lifetimes. Although all were interested in different areas of Asian ceramics, their collections reflect either the fact that Western design had been influenced by that of Asia or that the reverse had occurred. An examination of the Hills' collection of blue-and-white Chinese porcelain reveals how the West borrowed and copied Chinese motifs for its own perennially popular blue-and-white porcelain. A review of the Law and Pulitzer collections of Chinese Export porcelain reveals how Chinese manufacturers had adapted their wares to suit Western taste and usage. The Richmond collection, rich in monochromes from the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) kilns, illuminates the lasting debt Western potters owe these early glaze masters. Utilizing the aforementioned collections as a fulcrum, this interdepartmental exhibition illustrates these crosscurrents of design and traces their influence upon the history of ceramic production. Paired objects from East and West highlight the rich interaction of potters, clients, designers, and traders.