Visions of Enchanted lands : Chinoiserie in European Art and Design

Study Day Monday November 5th 2018

Visions of Enchanted Lands: Chinoiserie in European Art and Design

Lecturer Ms Anne Haworth BA (Hons)

Lecturer at the V&A. Guide for private tours of the state Rooms and the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace. Lecturer in British Painting for American students resident in London. In Autumn 2002, catalogued collection of Chinese porcelain at Kensington Place. From 2001 – 2005, a committee member of the French Porcelain Society. From 1995-2002, was resident in Shanghai, China. Visited ancient kiln sites and lectured to expat groups. From 1981 to 1995 trained and became a senior ceramics specialist at Christie’s and Bonhams head offices.

The Lecture content: –

For centuries, China was a country closed to Europeans but with a rich artistic tradition, inspired by the natural world and Chinese beliefs in the mountains of the immortals, Chinoiserie was a whimsical and fanciful European response to the exotic designs on Chinese porcelain, wallpaper and furniture, combined with a flavour of Japan and India. It influenced decorative arts, architecture and garden design from the 17th to the 18th centuries. The lecture looks at chinoiserie’s origin in Chinese myths, legends, fairy-tales and mountain lore and explores the ways in which these real and imaginary worlds merged and were reproduced on Chinese wallpaper, silks and porcelain for export to the West. The European reaction to this is considered, first during the earlies chinoiseries of the Baroque, later with the lightness of the Rococo. Some famous examples of chinoiseries are the porcelains of Meissen, Bow and Worcester, japanned cabinets, furniture in Chippendale style, the interiors of Claydon House and Saltram house, the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, the pagoda at Kew and the tea-house at Potsdam.

The study day is from 10.30 am – 3.30pm with lunch provided

£25 per person. Members only