The Oriental Ceramic Society (OCS) is one of the leading international societies for the study and appreciation of Asian art, with a special interest in ceramics. However its wider focus is the study and appreciation of all aspects of oriental art, and over the last 90 years has served as one of the main bodies assisting the understanding of oriental art, and oriental ceramics in particular, by means of organising regular meetings, lectures and publications.

History

The Society was founded in London in 1921 by a group of collectors and others interested in oriental ceramics. Since then, many notable art historians and collectors have joined the OCS, have given lectures to the Society and have written articles for publication in the annual ''Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society'' (TOCS, currently edited by Dr Stacey Pierson). The ''Transactions'' are a highly regarded journal on Asian art, and the annual ''Newsletter'' brings news on Asian art from around the world. Through lectures, handling sessions, exhibitions and publications, the Society has provided an influential forum in which its members have developed and exchanged their knowledge with experts and academics. In the 1950s and ‘60s a regular exhibition programme was organised, which consecutively covered the arts of the major Chinese dynasties, Tang (618–907), Song (960–1279), Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911), but also highlighted special topics such as the various Song dynasty ceramics, and blue-and-white, monochrome and polychrome wares from the Ming and Qing. These exhibitions were mounted at the Arts Council Gallery in St. James, London. The Silver Jubilee of the Society in 1971 saw a major exhibition on The Ceramic Art of China held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In 2021 the Society held an exhibition curated by Sarah Wong to mark 100 years since its foundation.

Activities

The Society continues to provide academic and introductory lectures throughout the year on all aspects of Asian art, in particular on Chinese ceramics, jades, paintings and Middle Eastern art. It hosts handling sessions of items from the main London museums, such as the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, as well as members’ collections. It has traditionally organised outings to English country houses, visits to private collections, guided tours to exhibitions as well as overseas trips as a means to promote the subject and as an educational resource. The Society currently has members throughout the world, and its meetings in London are mostly held on the premises of the Society of Antiquaries, next to the Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly (although activities are also organised in New York). The Society's patron is

The Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

Presidents of the society

* 1921–39 George Eumorfopoulos * 1939–42

Robert Lockhart Hobson Robert Lockhart Hobson Companions of the Order of the Bath, CB (26 July 1872''Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620–1911'1939 England and Wales Register'' – 5 June 1941) was a British civil servant and antiquarian. He was keeper of t ...

* 1943–64 Sir Alan Barlow * 1964–67 G. St.G. M. Gompertz * 1967–70 Sir Harry Garner * 1970–74

Basil Gray Basil Gray, (1904 – 1989), was an art historian, Islamicist, author, and the head of the British Museum's Oriental department. Early life Basil Gray was born in 1904 at Kensington, the son to Charles Gray and Florence Elworthy Cowell. His f ...

* 1974–77

Sir John Addis ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

* 1977–78

* 1978–80

Mary Tregear Mary Tregear, FBA (11 February 1924 – 17 December 2010) was a British museum curator and art historian specializing in Chinese art. She was born in Wuchang, China. After studying at Bristol University and SOAS, University of London, she taugh ...

* 1980–84 Prof. William Watson * 1984–86 John Ayers * 1986–90 Sir John Figgess * 1990–92 Margaret Medley * 1992–97

Jessica Rawson Dame Jessica Mary Rawson, (born 20 January 1943) is an English art historian, curator and sinologist. She is also an academic administrator, specialising in Chinese art. After many years at the British Museum, she was Warden (head) of Merton C ...

* 1997–2000 Oliver Impey * 2000–03 Rose Kerr * 2003–06 Carol Michaelson * 2006–09 Rosemary Scott * 2009–12 Shelagh Vainker * 2012–15 Regina Krahl * 2015–18 Jessica Harrison-Hall * 2018–2021 Beth McKillop * 2021-date Stacey Pierson

Selected publications

Publications of the society include: * 1947 Ayers, John; Impey, O. R.; Mallet, J. V. G., ''Porcelain for palaces : the fashion for Japan in Europe, 1650–1750'' (OCS, London, 1947). * 1947 Hetherington, A. L., ''Exhibition of celadon wares'' (OCS, London, 1947). * 1948 Oriental Ceramic Society, ''Chinese ceramic figures : catalogue of an exhibition held by the Oriental Ceramic Society from 8 April to 21 June'', 1947 (OCS, London, 1948). * 1949 Oriental Ceramic Society, ''Wares of the Tʻang dynasty : catalogue of an exhibition held by the Oriental Ceramic Society from 27 April to 8 June 1949'' (OCS, London, 1949). * TOCS 74 (2009–10), paperback, with essays on Qianlong porcelain; Westerners in Shekwan ceramics; Meiji ceramics for Japan; architectural ceramics; 12–17th c. Chinese jades; Transitional Jingdezhen kiln sites; Northern Song ceramic ownership; and Korean ceramic in the V&A. * TOCS 75 (2010–11), paperback, with essays on Southeast Asian ceramics; Chinese Export ceramics in the V&A; Yongle porcelains; Syrian glass; Kakiemon; British Museum jades; and Jiangxi ceramics. * TOCS 76 (2011–12), paperback, with essays on Chinese porcelain in Fustat; the Qianlong emperor and ‘Ge ware;’ Temmoku; Islamic Art at the Met; a Japanese garniture from Althorp; Mughal jade; Han life and afterlife; and OCS history. * TOCS 77 (2012–13), paperback, with essays on The Bluett Archive; Chinamania; Chinese porcelain in Spain during the Habsburg dynasty; and Recycled Archaic Jades.

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Davids, R., Jellinek, D., ''PROVENANCE. Collectors, Dealers and Scholars in the Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain and America'', (Great Haseley, 2011) (including a list of the member of the Oriental Ceramic Society 1942–1943). * Elias, H., Eskenazi, G., ''A Dealer's Hand: The Chinese Art World through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi'' (Scala, 2012). *Pierson, S., 'Scholarship and Exhibitions: the Oriental Ceramic Society and its Public Activities, 1921–1945', in ''Collectors, collections and museums : the field of Chinese ceramics in Britain, 1560–1960'' (P. Lang, Oxford/New York, 2007). *Winkworth, W. W., 'Art-history and the Oriental Ceramic Society', ''Burlington Magazine'', Vol. 89, No. 526 (Jan. 1947), pp. 13–15.

External links

* {{authority control Learned societies of the United Kingdom Ceramic art Arts organizations established in 1921 1921 establishments in England Chinese pottery