April 3 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Thursday April 3, 2025
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
The Macdonald Lecture
Speaker: Dr. Mary Redfern, Curator, Japan, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)
The exquisite porcelains made in Arita, Japan, graced the tables of palaces across Europe, as well as the courts of both shogun and emperor. The networks these objects sustained spread further still. The temples of Nara and Kyoto include thirteen ‘imperial convents’ (amamonzeki). Historically home to nuns from imperial, aristocratic, or shogunal families, the collections these convents preserve possess unique insights for the study of court culture and gender in Japan. While export wares and Nabeshima presentation pieces are familiar in collections worldwide, ceramics made as imperial tableware are less well known.
Focusing on the collections of Reikanji temple in Kyoto’s Higashiyama district, this talk will examine items of porcelain tableware created for the use of its nuns, and the identities and relationships these objects embody. Reikanji was established in 1655 and opens its gates during the camellia season when its elegant gardens come into bloom.
About the Speaker
Dr. Mary Redfern
Dr. Mary Redfern is Curator, Japan, at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). After completing her PhD on Meiji-era imperial tableware at University of East Anglia in 2015, Dr. Redfern worked for 8 years as Curator for East Asia at the Chester Beatty, Dublin. Her publications include Edo in Colour: Prints from Japan’s Metropolis, Art of Friendship: Japanese Surimono Prints and Tennō no dainingu hōru (Emperor’s Dining Hall) written with Yamazaki Taisuke and Imaizumi Yoshiko. Most recently, she co-curated the exhibition Japan: Myths to Manga, held at Young V&A.