San Francisco Ceramic Circle

Illustrated Lecture

"One bowl more & then .......": English Drinking Vessels & Traditions in Colonial America

by

Leslie Grigsby

Curator of Ceramics and Glass, Winterthur Museum

8.00 PM Thursday, 14th August 2008

Koret Theater, deYoung Museum

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Enter by the garage entrance. Doors open from 7.30 PM

SFCC lectures are free with Museum paid or FAMSF membership entry

About our speaker:

Leslie Grigsby is the curator of ceramics and glass at the Winterthur museum. Since 1999 in this position among her other duties she is responsible for a collection of more than 20,000 glass and ceramic objects spanning the period 1630 to 1860 and of international origins and is project manager for the Lunger project to catalog these and the metalwork collections.

She was awarded her B.A. in art history from the University of Illinois in 1979 and a post graduate diploma in art gallery and museum studies  from Manchester University, England in 1980.  Prior to joining the staff at Winterthur she spent 8 years on the curatorial staff at Colonial Williamsburg and 10 years as an independent researcher and author specializing in English ceramics from 1600 - 1800.

She has curated numerous exhibitions and published extensively.

About the talk:

This object-rich talk focuses upon alcoholic beverage ware and associated traditions in the American colonies.  Supported by .evidence drawn from archaeology and period documents, the discussion will illustrate that imported English drinking vessels-from slipware to delftware, salt-glazed stoneware and soft paste porcelain-were employed in modest homes and taverns as well as in more elegant settings and at formal public and private celebrations.

Next meeting: Thursday, 11th September 2008. Sheila Keppel, Potter and Independent Chinese Art Historian. "Exporting a Culture: the First Chinese Ceramics to Reach the West Coast of the Americas"