Enfilade

Commode designed by Jean-François Cuvilliés, the Elder, pine partially painted and gilded, German, ca. 1735–40 (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 28.154).

◊   ◊   ◊   ◊   ◊

Registration now open at Eventbrite:

Rococo across Borders: Designers and Makers
In-person and live-streamed, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 24–25 March 2023

Organized by the Furniture History Society and the French Porcelain Society, this two-day symposium on Rococo ceramics and furniture across Europe and beyond aims to examine the geographical spread of the Rococo style, the interaction between designers and makers, and the significant role played by print culture in its dissemination. It will go beyond the traditional geographical, chronological, and conceptual fields of Rococo design to explore how the style evolved throughout the long eighteenth century and to reflect on wider discussions about the historical contexts for Rococo ceramics and furniture, alongside the place of the ‘Rococo’ in museums and art historical scholarship today. Tickets: £30–142.

F R I D A Y ,  2 4  M A R C H  2 0 2 3

10.00  Registration

10.20  Welcome and Introduction from Dame Rosalind Savill DBE, FSA, FBA, President of the French Porcelain Society

10.35  Session One | Origins and Circulation of the Rococo
Moderated by Helen Jacobsen
• Form versus Function: The Rococo Contradiction and Its Application to French Eighteenth-Century Decorative Arts — John Whitehead (Independent Scholar)
• The Diplomatic Gifts of Louis XV (working title) — Marie-Laure Buku-Pongo (Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, The Frick Collection, New York
• From Cathay to Paris: Trade with Asia, Its Actors, and Its Influence on the Arts in Paris — Stéphane Castelluccio (Directeur de recherche au CNRS, Centre André Chastel, Paris)
• The Rococo Diaspora: Wandering Craftsmen, Objects, Patronage, and Diplomacy — Sarah Coffin (Independent Curator, Former Senior Curator, Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York)

12.40  Discussion

12.55  Lunch including ’Object in Focus Sessions’ with V&A Collections and Curators (separate tickets required)

14.25  Session Two | Virtuoso Rococo: England and the Netherlands
Moderated by David Oakey
• ‘A Peculiarity in the Lines’: Drawing and Carving ‘Rococo’ in Mid-Eighteenth-Century England — Jenny Saunt (Curatorial Research Fellow, V&A Museum, London)
• Chelsea’s Extreme Rococo: A Perspicuous Misunderstanding or a Calculated Risk — Patricia Ferguson (Independent Scholar)
• Designing or Making: On the Role of Craftsmen as Designers — Reinier Baarsen (Curator Emeritus of Decorative Arts at the Rijksmuseum)
• Rococo Silver in the Austrian Netherlands: A Virtuoso Kaleidoscope? — Wim Nys (Head of Collections and Research, DIVA Museum, Antwerp)

16.35  Discussion

16.50  Closing Remarks

18.00  Ticket holders are invited to a drinks reception, supported by Bonhams, at Montpelier St, London SW7 1HH; spaces are limited so early booking is advised.

S A T U R D A Y ,  2 5  M A R C H  2 0 2 3

10.00  Registration

10.20  Welcome and Introduction from Christopher Rowell FSA, Chairman of the Furniture History Society

10.30  Session Three | Inspiration and Emulation: Ireland, Germany, and Russia
Moderated by Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth
• The Prints of Carl Pier (b. 1717): Visions and Potentialities in Southern German Rococo Design — Michael Yonan (Professor of Art History, University of California)
• Frederician Furniture in Berlin and Potsdam, ca. 1740–1775 — Henriette Graf (Curator of Furniture, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg)
• The Englishness of Irish Rococo: The Dublin School of Stucco Workers — Conor Lucey (Associate Professor in Architectural History, University College Dublin)
• Pineau le Russe: A French Sculptor in Service to the Tsars— Turner Edwards (Collaborateur Scientifique, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris)

12.40  Discussion

12.55  Lunch

14.25  Session Four | Across the Seas: China, the Americas, and back to France
Moderated by Adriana Turpin
• Persistence, Resistance, and Canadian Rococo Furniture — Philippe Halbert (Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford)
• Ornaments from the Western Ocean: Rococo as a Qing Imperial Style in the Decorative Arts — Mei Mei Rado (Assistant Professor, History of Textiles, Dress, and Decorative Arts, Bard Graduate Center, New York)
• The French Rococo Style in Colonial Latin America — Dennis Carr (Virginia Steele Scott Chief Curator of American Art, Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, Los Angeles)
• Colonial Fantasy and Rococo Regressions: Porcelain in the Time of Louis-Philippe — Iris Moon (Assistant Curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

16.35  Discussion

16.50  Closing Remarks

Images: Top left to bottom right, Flower vase (cuvette Mahon), probably designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis, Sèvres Manufactory, French, soft-paste porcelain, ca. 1757–60 (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974.356.592); Girandole à branche de porcelaine garnie d’or, from Oeuvres de Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, engraved by Gabriel Huquier, French, 1738–49 (New York: Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 1921-6-212-29-b); Commode designed by Jean-François Cuvilliés, the Elder, pine partially painted and gilded, German, ca. 1735–40 (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 28.154).