New York Exhibitions 21


THE INFINITE ARTISTRY OF JAPANESE CERAMICS


whimsical blue-and-white porcelains adorned with flowers and insects; and exquisite examples of Nabeshima ware, once produced exclusively for the Tokugawa shogunate and its circle. A focused section on tea


culture illuminates the evolution of Japanese-style tea (wabicha) and tea cuisine, anchored by masterworks such as a striking early-17th- century Oribe vessel, a recent acquisition, reflecting the refined sensibilities of tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615). Several galleries are


Deep vessel, Japan, Middle Jomon period (circa 3500- 2500 BC), earthenware with cord-marked decoration and sculptural rim, height 41.9 cm, Harry G C Packard Collection of Asian Art


Tis exhibition traces more than 13,000 years of ceramic artistry in Japan, from its Neolithic origins to the country’s dynamic contemporary art scene. Te exhibition presents approximately 350 works in three rotations, drawn mostly from Te Met’s own collection, focusing on works from the Harry G C Packard Collection. Bringing together exceptional works shaped by centuries of cultural exchange with China, Korea, and Europe, the exhibition invites visitors to explore how materials, techniques, function, and meaning


Dish with three jars, Japan, Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1680-90s, porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome enamels, Hizen ware, Nabeshima type, height 15.2 cm, Harry G C Packard Collection of Asian Art


intersect in one of the world’s most enduring ceramic traditions. Te exhibition is displayed across 10 thematic galleries, highlighting the remarkable diversity of Japan’s regional ceramic practices. Distinct local clays, methods, and systems of patronage gave rise to a wide spectrum of forms, surfaces, and uses, ranging from everyday tableware to vessels created for tea masters and elite


households. By placing ceramic works in dialogue with other art forms, it highlights broad aesthetic and cultural trends. A selection of works also


represents the abstract qualities of medieval natural ash glazing. Temes of the exhibition include monochrome wares such as elegant early Japanese celadons; ceramics repaired with kintsugi (gold joinery);


THE HUM OF LIFE A Thousand and One Tales from Bali


celebrating the pleasure of food presentation, featuring vessels for comfort food used by commoners travelling along the historic Tokaido highway connecting Kyoto and Edo. Luxurious porcelain and lacquerware, designed for festive banquets among the elite, are also on view. Enhancing these narratives, a selection of rare garments, including richly embroidered wedding robes, and other decorative arts offer further insight into the broader visual culture in which these ceramic traditions flourished. Much of the selection is


drawn from the Harry G C Packard Collection, presented in honour of the 50th anniversary of this landmark acquisition. Comprising more than 400 artworks, including Buddhist sculptures, paintings from the medieval period through the 19th


Lectures Publications


Handling Sessions Events and Tours


Bottle with decoration of a pine tree, Japan, Edo period (1615-1868), circa mid-17th century, stoneware with iron-painted design and copper-green glaze over brushed white slip, Takeo Karatsu ware, 33 x19.1 cm, Harry G C Packard Collection of Asian Art


century, and a wide range of pottery, the Packard Collection became the foundation of the museum’s well-known Japanese art holdings. Many of the ceramics featured in the exhibition, seldom on show to the public until now,


underscore the ingenuity, vitality, and enduring legacy of Japanese ceramic artistry.


• Until 8 August, The Metropolitan Museum of


Art, New York, metmuseum.org


Detail from a tantri story, Bali, ink and colours on cotton, 1890-1910, 258 x 567.5 cm, gift of Professor Benedict R O’G Anderson


Te perpetual ‘hum of life’ (senandung hidup) is not as orderly or harmonious as tourist literature would have us believe. Balinese paintings, textiles, shadow puppets, masks, and sculptures reveal a multitude of narratives, from imaginative folk tales to the heroics and moral lessons of the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, to the gendered relationships, humour, and magic of local Indonesian stories. Tey also detail aspects of daily life in Bali in which storytelling, performance, and religious practice intertwine. One of the works is a


vibrant ider-ider (a long, narrow cloth hung under the eaves of a shrine), where the tantri is shown gesturing elegantly to the reclining king, who she entertains with a tantalising story night after night, in the Balinese version of the Tousand and One Nights. Te elaborately carved Balinese door to the right of the scene serves as a threshold to the collection of stories that await. Nearly three decades of


collecting Balinese art at the Johnson Museum are currently being celebrated in an exhibition. Te collection has been made possible in large part by the unfolding


history and reputation of Cornell’s Modern Indonesia Project, founded in the 1950s, and generous donations to the Museum from scholars of Southeast Asian studies, their families, and their students. Twenty years ago, the museum acquired a significant collection of Balinese story cloths and shadow puppets from anthropologist Joseph Fischer that have become an important resource for teaching the history of Balinese art, along with other textile gifts.


• Until 17 May, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, museum.cornell.edu


www.orientalceramicsociety.org.uk Image: The Butler Collection


ASIAN ART | MARCH 2026


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