Lectures & Events
Each year, the Oriental Ceramic Society (OCS) curates a series of lectures that are given by distinguished scholars. These talks are scheduled once a month in the evening and are usually held in the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly.
The OCS also organises a programme of handling sessions, tours and visits to museums and auction houses in the UK and abroad. All upcoming member events are listed below.
Upcoming Events
The Subversive Art of Portraiture in Seventeenth Century China
The 2026 Annual Sonia Lightfoot Memorial Lecture on Paintings Speaker: Dr Mariana Zegianini Traditionally created to commemorate the life of a human being after their death, portraiture in China has been considered at best a minor artistic genre by both early modern and contemporary art scholarship. As a result, until very recently portraits from China […] ...
Ordering Disorder – Mughal, Central Asian and Chinese jades – An Attempt At Classification
The Annual Woolf Jade Lecture Speaker: Dr. Jean-Baptiste Clais Over the past two decades, scholarly research and exhibitions have significantly expanded our knowledge of Asian jade production and trade during the modern era. Studies have highlighted Timurid and post-Timurid jade craftsmanship in Central Asia, as well as the rich tradition of Mughal jades. In China, […] ...
Frederic Leighton – A Victorian Traveller and Collector in the Middle East
Speaker: Dr Melanie Gibson Before becoming President of London’s Royal Academy in 1878, the artist Frederic Leighton made several trips to countries around the southern Mediterranean including southern Spain, Egypt, Turkey and Syria. In this talk I will discuss his growing interest in Islamic architecture and design, and look at how he started to build […] ...
Title Tbc
Dr Mok H. Y. Charitable Foundation Lecture Speaker: Becky MacGuire Details of the lecture will follow shortly. Members do not need to book to attend this lecture. 5:30 pm – Society of Antiquaries opens for members’ refreshments 6:15 pm – Lecture begins This lecture is sponsored by Dr Mok H. Y. Charitable Foundation and the […] ...
Annual General Meeting of the Oriental Ceramic Society 2026
Date: Wednesday 3rd of June 2026 Time: 17:30 Venue: Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BE and on Zoom Who: OCS members only This is to give OCS members notice that the Oriental Ceramic Society AGM 2026 will take place at 17:30 on Wednesday 3rd of June 2025 at the Society of Antiquaries, […] ...
Previous Events
‘By means of a strange circulation’: the availability of Chinese objects in the 17th-century Dutch Republic
ExpiredSpeaker: Dr. Willemijn van Noord 方若薇, Wereld Museum – Curator China Various 17th-century European sources describe Amsterdam as ‘the warehouse of the world,’ where one could find anything rare, especially from ‘the Indies.’ Moreover, the Dutch Republic was ‘Europe’s primary entrepot’ for information about China at the time. The presence of blue-and-white porcelain, imported by […] ...
Handling Session of Yaozhou Wares with Professor Brian M. Salzberg
ExpiredDate: Saturday 13th of December 2025, 2pm Location: Philadelphia, USA – Details will be provided to successful participants by 1 Dec 2025 We are delighted to offer a special event for OCS members in the USA. OCS Council Member Professor Brian M. Salzberg will host an exclusive handling session of Yaozhou wares at his private […] ...
The Art of Chinese Bamboo Carving: The Collection of Brian McElney at the Museum of East Asian Art
ExpiredThe Brian McElney Memorial Lecture Speaker: Dr Ivy Yi Yan Chan The Museum of East Asian Art in Bath holds an important collection of Chinese bamboo carvings assembled by its founder Brian McElney (1932-2023) – a British lawyer born in Hong Kong who spent much of his life working and collecting there. McElney developed an […] ...
Handling Session #2 @ The British Museum: 12pm – SOLD OUT
Expired1935 Revisited: Handling objects from the International Exhibition of Chinese Art Step back to 1935, when London hosted the landmark International Exhibition of Chinese Art, bringing together masterpieces and participants from across the globe. This handling session offers you a unique opportunity to examine a selection of objects that once featured in that historic event. […] ...
Handling Session #1 @ The British Museum: 10:30 am – SOLD OUT
Expired1935 Revisited: Handling Objects From the International Exhibition of Chinese Art Step back to 1935, when London hosted the landmark International Exhibition of Chinese Art, bringing together masterpieces and participants from across the globe. This handling session offers you a unique opportunity to examine a selection of objects that once featured in that historic event. […] ...
Challenges and solutions: the ingenuity of the Yaozhou potters
ExpiredThe Sir Michael Butler Memorial Lecture The Yaozhou kilns are usually associated with a type of celadon characterised by vivid designs carved or moulded under a transparent olive-green glaze made from the eleventh century. However, their history of technological challenges and solutions started much earlier and it shows the potters’ ingenuity in adapting to available […] ...
Findings and Research in the Jingdezhen Luomaqiao Kiln Site – Blue and White Porcelain Production over 700 Years
ExpiredAsian Art in London Lecture @ Christie’s London Tea & coffee: 17:30-18:00 Lecture: 18:00-19:00 Registration has now closed This lecture will also be live streamed on Zoom: Register to watch on Zoom The Oriental Ceramic Society is delighted to welcome Dr. Weng Yanjun, the Director of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum and Institute and the […] ...
Priestley & Ferraro: Three Decades in Chinese Art (1994-2025)
ExpiredHandling Session hosted by Bonhams. ...
A Life in Ceramics: The Peter and Mary White Collection of Chinese Art
ExpiredHandling Session hosted by Bonhams. ...
Kindred Spirits: Japanese Ceramics in Chinese Style from the Shen Zhai Collection
ExpiredClare Pollard will talk about the Shen Zhai Collection and the recent publication Kindred Spirits: 100 Ceramics in Chinese Style. The Shen Zhai Collection, which she co-authored with Patrick K. M. Kwok, Rose Kerr, Maezaki Shinya and Fukunaga Ai. While Chinese ceramics have played a crucial role in Japanese culture throughout history, relatively little attention […] ...
Handling Session at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge – SOLD OUT
ExpiredChinese and Korean Celadon-glazed Ceramics from the 10th to the 13th Centuries Friday 10th October: 11:30am – 1pm Join Dr. James Lin, Senior Curator Chinese Art at the Fitzwilliam Museum, for an intimate handling session featuring ceramics from the Fitzwilliam Museum’s collection. Booking Information Price: £10 On Sale Date: Monday, 15 September, 7pm How to […] ...
‘Brought out in Evidence’: The Unorthodox Career of William Bowyer Honey (1889-1956)
ExpiredThis is the Annual OCS Shang Shan Tang Lecture with additional sponsorship from Woolley & Wallis W B Honey is an overlooked figure in relation to the scholarship of East Asian ceramics here in Britain, his name perhaps being more often linked to writings on European pottery, porcelain and glass. Yet as a member of […] ...