Mia Jackson Appointed Curator of Decorative Arts at Waddesdon
Waddesdon Manor is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Mia Jackson as Curator of Decorative Arts. She joined Waddesdon on 1 February 2017.
Jackson’s experience would seem tailor-made for Waddesdon. It was whilst finishing her undergraduate degree in French and philosophy that she noticed books on ceramics in her college library at Oxford. These included books on French porcelain that sparked a fascination. Jackson tracked down their author, Dr Aileen Dawson, and volunteered with her one day a week at The British Museum while studying for her MA in eighteenth-century French decorative arts at the Courtauld (2005). When a museum assistant job came open in the Prints and Drawings Department, Jackson was advised to apply. Of her four years at The British Museum, she notes, “I think I got the best art-historical education I could have dreamt of from Solander boxes and boxes of the most amazing prints and drawings.”
Returning to the decorative arts, Jackson was hired in 2008 as a museum assistant at The Wallace Collection. She spent three happy years under the directorship of Rosalind Savill, and at Savill’s encouragement, she embarked on a doctoral thesis at Queen Mary University of London on the French furniture maker André Charles Boulle and his collection of prints and drawings, finishing her PhD in 2016.
Also during her time at The Wallace Collection, Jackson participated in the Attingham Summer School, which opened her eyes to historic houses. She became Curator of Collections at English Heritage in January 2015 with curatorial responsibility for the collections at Audley End House in Essex and Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. Jackson was named the Art Fund curator of the month in November 2016.
Jackson notes, “I am hugely excited about joining the curatorial team at Waddesdon Manor, where I will be able to return to the French decorative arts that I love with such passion.”
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