Dragons and Lotus Blossoms: Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art

Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art In 2010 the Vietnamese ceramics collection of Mr. William M. Spencer III, long-time Museum patron and founding member of the Asian Art Society, was bequeathed to the Museum. His gift greatly strengthened the Museum’s holdings of Vietnamese ceramics made for domestic use and never exported, a neglected area in which it has been difficult to find material. This donation, and the continuing judicious purchase of outstanding pieces over the years, has resulted in an extensive collection, with many fine, undamaged, and unique examples. Along with The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Birmingham Museum of Art now has one of the three finest collections of Vietnamese ceramics in North America. Dragons and Lotus Blossoms: Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art was the largest exhibition in the United States to date devoted solely to Vietnamese ceramics. The exhibition was co-curated by Donald A. Wood and John Stevenson, internationally recognized scholar and expert on Vietnamese ceramics. The entire Birmingham Museum of Art collection of over two hundred pieces, including a Le Dynasty jar recently named by Apollo magazine as one of the top ten museum acquisitions of 2011 in the world, is on display and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue.  The catalogue includes essays by John Stevenson, Philippe Truong, and Donald A. Wood. Exhibition Dates: January 22, 2012 - April 08, 2012