Papers by Ai Fukunaga
HALI, 2024
Coauthored with Karen Horton.
The textiles of East Asia have exerted a powerful pull on many col... more Coauthored with Karen Horton.
The textiles of East Asia have exerted a powerful pull on many collectors, several of whom have made significant contributions to the Chester Beatty museum in Dublin. But some of the most delicate silks have presented challenges to curators wishing to display them appropriately. Textile conservator Karen Horton describes a new presentation technique involving magnets, developed with the museum, while Ai Fukunaga,
Curator of East Asian Collections, begins by describing how the institution garnered its impressive collection.
The Japan Society Proceedings , 2022
Museum collections of Japanese ceramics in Britain include numerous utensils for whipped tea (mat... more Museum collections of Japanese ceramics in Britain include numerous utensils for whipped tea (matcha) and steeped tea (sencha) gatherings along with diverse vessels for daily and special occasions collected from Meiji Japan. Who collected them and why, and how did these objects obtain value in Britain around the turn of the twentieth century?
Tracing the collecting networks of the Sir Augustus W. Franks (1826–1897) collection at the British Museum, London and the Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908) collection at Maidstone Museum, Kent, this lecture will explore the value making process for objects used for two types of tea in the 1860s–80s and the 1880s–1900s, respectively. It will also look at how the Japan Society of London, founded in 1891, functioned as a new venue to discuss and present the subject.
The Bulletin of the Research Institute for Japanese Studies, 2023
フランシス・ブリンクリーとボストン美術館日本陶磁コレクション
Chinese style steeped tea (sencha) came into fashion among Japanese literati’s circles in the lat... more Chinese style steeped tea (sencha) came into fashion among Japanese literati’s circles in the late Edo period (18th-19th centuries). Sencha gatherings were more than just drinking steeped tea. Sencha’s association with China added an international atmosphere and provided a backdrop for Edo-period Japanese who were not allowed to travel outside the country to enjoy Chinese ideals. Early tea utensils in Japan for whipped tea (matcha) practise developed from Song and Yuan period Chinese prototypes. In the same fashion, sencha tea utensils were based on ones from the later Ming and Qing periods. This paper explores the culture of sencha and the consumption and creation of the tea utensils in Japan and its Chinese influences. The original paper was read at ECC seminar: Influences and inspirations - 400 years of Japanese porcelain, held at SOAS, University of London on 26 November 2016.
Journal for Art Market Studies, 2018
The Hon. Henry Marsham (1845-1908) was a British businessman who collected Japanese works of art ... more The Hon. Henry Marsham (1845-1908) was a British businessman who collected Japanese works of art in Kyoto during the 1900s. His Kyoto ware collection at Maidstone Museum, Kent, is superior in both quantity and quality to other collections in Japan and overseas. The over 700 ceramic works in this collection range from daily dishes and tea vessels to utensils exclusively made for noble families. Marsham assembled the objects in a transnational process which was instigated in Japan before it continued in Britain. He collected Japanese works with local support before sending his collection to the Kentish provincial museum, with which he communicated closely on matters of arrangement and display. This paper examines the role of the Miyako Hotel, as an actor in creating Marsham’s collection as well as his Kyoto network for collecting. The interactions between the British collector and the local agents are illustrated based on letters and manuscript notes in his archive at the Maidstone Museum. The actors from the empirical study are then discussed in the context of Kyoto and the emerging tourist industry in the late Meiji era, complemented by the research of local newspaper articles of the time. Understanding collecting as a collaborative process by actors in different sectors, the network of collecting is contextualised here for both the collector and the people in Meiji Kyoto.
Books by Ai Fukunaga
Kindred Spirits: 100 Japanese Ceramics in Chinese Style The Shen Zhai Collection, 2024
Kindred Spirits showcases the remarkable flowering of Chinese style ceramics that took place in J... more Kindred Spirits showcases the remarkable flowering of Chinese style ceramics that took place in Japan after the mid-19th century. For over a thousand years, Chinese ceramics have been admired and emulated in Japan. This book discusses for the first time how this artistic relationship evolved during the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa eras. A selection of 100 works from the acclaimed Shen Zhai Collection demonstrates the range and quality of these ceramics, from elegant celadons to sophisticated underglaze blue porcelains. Detailed descriptions, makers’ marks, and box inscriptions make this a valuable reference resource for collectors and art historians.
With contributions by Clare Pollard, Rose Kerr, Maezaki Shinya, and Fukunaga Ai, and a foreword by Patrick K. M. Kwok
Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, 2024
Ai Fukunaga and Nonie Gadsden, 'Toshiko Takaezu and Japanese ceramics, 1955-56', eds by Glenn Ada... more Ai Fukunaga and Nonie Gadsden, 'Toshiko Takaezu and Japanese ceramics, 1955-56', eds by Glenn Adamson, Dankin Hart, and Kate Wiener, Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York in association with Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2024, pp. 302-313.
Picasso Ceramics: The Modern Touch, 2023
I provided the glossary of Picasso's ceramics and reviewed the tombstone information for the cate... more I provided the glossary of Picasso's ceramics and reviewed the tombstone information for the catelogue.
Picasso Ceramics: The Modern Touch is the third exhibition organized by the YOKU MOKU MUSEUM to introduce new perspectives on its collection. Supervised by Mari Komoto, professor of Japan Women’s University and a leading authority on Picasso and twentieth century art, this exhibition offers an in-depth analysis and re-assessment of the ceramics of Picasso in terms of modernity – specifically, Picasso’s fusion of ‘the modern’ and ‘the classical.’
Influences and inspirations: 400 years of Japanese porcelain, 2018
Chinese style steeped tea (sencha) came into fashion among Japanese literati’s circles in the lat... more Chinese style steeped tea (sencha) came into fashion among Japanese literati’s circles in the late Edo period (18th-19th centuries). Sencha gatherings were more than just drinking steeped tea. Sencha’s association with China added an international atmosphere and provided a backdrop for Edo-period Japanese who were not allowed to travel outside the country to enjoy Chinese ideals. Early tea utensils in Japan for whipped tea (matcha) practise developed from Song and Yuan period Chinese prototypes. In the same fashion, sencha tea utensils were based on ones from the later Ming and Qing periods. This paper explores the culture of sencha and the consumption and creation of the tea utensils in Japan and its Chinese influences.
The original paper was read at ECC seminar: Influences and inspirations - 400 years of Japanese porcelain, held at SOAS, University of London on 26 November 2016.
明日へ翔ぶ : 人文社会学の新視点 3, 2014
Thesis Chapters by Ai Fukunaga
PhD thesis, 2021
Museum collections of Japanese ceramics in Britain include numerous utensils for whipped tea (mat... more Museum collections of Japanese ceramics in Britain include numerous utensils for whipped tea (matcha) and steeped tea (sencha) gatherings along with diverse vessels for daily and special occasions collected from Meiji Japan. Who collected them and why, and how did these objects obtain value in Britain around the turn of the twentieth century and through the process of collecting? Tracing the international network of collecting this material through the Sir Augustus W. Franks (1826–1897) collection at the British Museum, London and the Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908) collection at the Maidstone Museum, Kent, this thesis explores the value making process for objects used for two types of tea in the 1860s–80s and the 1880s–1900s, respectively. Based on archival and collection surveys in Britain, Japan, and Europe, the values assigned to these teawares are identified as a collaborative product of negotiations of multiple contributors—objects, collectors, learned societies, mediators, institutions and audiences. Adopting Actor-Network theory, this research gives voice to objects and mediators who have been subordinated and ignored in the history of collecting. At the intersection of the development of museums in the U.K., and academic disciplines of the nineteenth century, modern tourism in Japan, and the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the objects for tea collected by Franks and Marsham can now be recognized as the products of (inter)national, local, and personal heritage.
Conference Presentations by Ai Fukunaga
東洋陶磁学会第50回大会２「明治陶磁研究の現在地」, 2023
Provenance and Asian Art: A Collaborative Workshop and Symposium, 2023
Based at 39 Furumonzen, Kyoto, Hayashi Shinsuke III and IV sold contemporary and antique East Asi... more Based at 39 Furumonzen, Kyoto, Hayashi Shinsuke III and IV sold contemporary and antique East Asian arts to Japanese and foreign customers in the late 19th and 20th centuries. They played multifaceted roles in radically changing Japanese society and the growing markets of East Asian arts both in Japan and overseas.
Poster presentation at Provenance and Asian Art: A Collaborative Workshop and Symposium, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., November 1–4, 2023.
https://asia.si.edu/research/scholarly-programs/provenance-and-asian-art-a-collaborative-workshop-and-symposium/
College Art Association Conference: Decentering Collecting Histories, 2022
In the 1900s, Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908), a British collector and businessman intensively col... more In the 1900s, Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908), a British collector and businessman intensively collected Japanese ceramics in Kyoto. His collection at the Maidstone Museum, Kent is one of the most important Japanese ceramics collections outside Japan for the variety and quality of domestic products from different kilns, featuring Kyoto ware. Marsham’s distance from London’s art circles and absence of publication not only left him as a forgotten collector but also obscured those who were involved with the creation of his collection.
Based on archival and material research in Kyoto and Maidstone, this paper reveals how local agents of the two cities, namely dealers, artists, temples, hotels, and the provincial museum supported the development of the Marsham collection and knowledge of Japanese ceramics. While Kyoto and Maidstone are highlighted, this research also analyses how London and Boston’s collections and scholarship had an impact on the formation of the provincial collection.
Adopting Actor-Network Theory, this paper defines collecting as a result of communication among actors in a collecting network, locating a collector as one of the elements of collecting. Giving what has been thought of as the peripheral equal attention to the central, this research aims to vocalize marginalized agents—regionally or art historically—as active players of collecting.
Talks by Ai Fukunaga
The Japan Society London Online Lecture, 2022
Museum collections of Japanese ceramics in Britain include numerous utensils for whipped tea (mat... more Museum collections of Japanese ceramics in Britain include numerous utensils for whipped tea (matcha) and steeped tea (sencha) gatherings along with diverse vessels for daily and special occasions collected from Meiji Japan. Who collected them and why, and how did these objects obtain value in Britain around the turn of the twentieth century? Tracing the collecting networks of the Sir Augustus W. Franks (1826–1897) collection at the British Museum, London and the Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908) collection at Maidstone Museum, Kent, this lecture will explore the value making process for objects used for two types of tea in the 1860s–80s and the 1880s–1900s, respectively. It will also look at how the Japan Society of London, founded in 1891, functioned as a new venue to discuss and present the subject. This lecture is based on her doctoral thesis British Collecting of Ceramics for Tea Gatherings from Meiji Japan: British Museum and Maidstone Museum Collections (2021).
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Papers by Ai Fukunaga
The textiles of East Asia have exerted a powerful pull on many collectors, several of whom have made significant contributions to the Chester Beatty museum in Dublin. But some of the most delicate silks have presented challenges to curators wishing to display them appropriately. Textile conservator Karen Horton describes a new presentation technique involving magnets, developed with the museum, while Ai Fukunaga,
Curator of East Asian Collections, begins by describing how the institution garnered its impressive collection.
Tracing the collecting networks of the Sir Augustus W. Franks (1826–1897) collection at the British Museum, London and the Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908) collection at Maidstone Museum, Kent, this lecture will explore the value making process for objects used for two types of tea in the 1860s–80s and the 1880s–1900s, respectively. It will also look at how the Japan Society of London, founded in 1891, functioned as a new venue to discuss and present the subject.
Books by Ai Fukunaga
With contributions by Clare Pollard, Rose Kerr, Maezaki Shinya, and Fukunaga Ai, and a foreword by Patrick K. M. Kwok
Picasso Ceramics: The Modern Touch is the third exhibition organized by the YOKU MOKU MUSEUM to introduce new perspectives on its collection. Supervised by Mari Komoto, professor of Japan Women’s University and a leading authority on Picasso and twentieth century art, this exhibition offers an in-depth analysis and re-assessment of the ceramics of Picasso in terms of modernity – specifically, Picasso’s fusion of ‘the modern’ and ‘the classical.’
The original paper was read at ECC seminar: Influences and inspirations - 400 years of Japanese porcelain, held at SOAS, University of London on 26 November 2016.
Thesis Chapters by Ai Fukunaga
Conference Presentations by Ai Fukunaga
Poster presentation at Provenance and Asian Art: A Collaborative Workshop and Symposium, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., November 1–4, 2023.
https://asia.si.edu/research/scholarly-programs/provenance-and-asian-art-a-collaborative-workshop-and-symposium/
Based on archival and material research in Kyoto and Maidstone, this paper reveals how local agents of the two cities, namely dealers, artists, temples, hotels, and the provincial museum supported the development of the Marsham collection and knowledge of Japanese ceramics. While Kyoto and Maidstone are highlighted, this research also analyses how London and Boston’s collections and scholarship had an impact on the formation of the provincial collection.
Adopting Actor-Network Theory, this paper defines collecting as a result of communication among actors in a collecting network, locating a collector as one of the elements of collecting. Giving what has been thought of as the peripheral equal attention to the central, this research aims to vocalize marginalized agents—regionally or art historically—as active players of collecting.
Talks by Ai Fukunaga
The textiles of East Asia have exerted a powerful pull on many collectors, several of whom have made significant contributions to the Chester Beatty museum in Dublin. But some of the most delicate silks have presented challenges to curators wishing to display them appropriately. Textile conservator Karen Horton describes a new presentation technique involving magnets, developed with the museum, while Ai Fukunaga,
Curator of East Asian Collections, begins by describing how the institution garnered its impressive collection.
Tracing the collecting networks of the Sir Augustus W. Franks (1826–1897) collection at the British Museum, London and the Hon. Henry Marsham (1845–1908) collection at Maidstone Museum, Kent, this lecture will explore the value making process for objects used for two types of tea in the 1860s–80s and the 1880s–1900s, respectively. It will also look at how the Japan Society of London, founded in 1891, functioned as a new venue to discuss and present the subject.
With contributions by Clare Pollard, Rose Kerr, Maezaki Shinya, and Fukunaga Ai, and a foreword by Patrick K. M. Kwok
Picasso Ceramics: The Modern Touch is the third exhibition organized by the YOKU MOKU MUSEUM to introduce new perspectives on its collection. Supervised by Mari Komoto, professor of Japan Women’s University and a leading authority on Picasso and twentieth century art, this exhibition offers an in-depth analysis and re-assessment of the ceramics of Picasso in terms of modernity – specifically, Picasso’s fusion of ‘the modern’ and ‘the classical.’
The original paper was read at ECC seminar: Influences and inspirations - 400 years of Japanese porcelain, held at SOAS, University of London on 26 November 2016.
Poster presentation at Provenance and Asian Art: A Collaborative Workshop and Symposium, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., November 1–4, 2023.
https://asia.si.edu/research/scholarly-programs/provenance-and-asian-art-a-collaborative-workshop-and-symposium/
Based on archival and material research in Kyoto and Maidstone, this paper reveals how local agents of the two cities, namely dealers, artists, temples, hotels, and the provincial museum supported the development of the Marsham collection and knowledge of Japanese ceramics. While Kyoto and Maidstone are highlighted, this research also analyses how London and Boston’s collections and scholarship had an impact on the formation of the provincial collection.
Adopting Actor-Network Theory, this paper defines collecting as a result of communication among actors in a collecting network, locating a collector as one of the elements of collecting. Giving what has been thought of as the peripheral equal attention to the central, this research aims to vocalize marginalized agents—regionally or art historically—as active players of collecting.