Enfilade

Large dish, porcelain, painted in underglaze blue, iron-red, and gold, Imari-type palette, made in Arita kilns, Japan, Edo period, c.1700–20
(National Trust for Scotland)

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The report was released early this year; Patricia Ferguson provides an introduction here. The full report is available (for free) as a PDF file here.

Patricia Ferguson, Survey of Asian Ceramics in the Collection of the National Trust for Scotland (National Trust for Scotland, 2023), 162 pages.

Between 2017 and 2019 the National Trust for Scotland delivered Project Reveal, a major collections project inventorying a collection of over 140,000 objects, distributed across 50 properties throughout Scotland. Encompassing major object groupings in the areas of fine and decorative art, household furniture and domestic life, these collections chart the experiences of people living in Scotland through 500 years of Scottish history, as well as demonstrating Scotland’s past relationships with the rest of the world.

This survey of Asian ceramics is a natural successor to Project Reveal. It delves deeper into the history and significance of a collection of circa 1,700 ceramic items. Undertaken by the independent researcher Patricia F. Ferguson this report sets out the survey findings, drawing together disparate existing research on the subject and contributing new collection research and knowledge. Focusing on key collections at nine different National Trust for Scotland properties, the report positions the collections within the broader context of historic ceramic production and collecting, with attention to influences such as: fashion and the role of royalty; production in and trade with China and Japan; and the growth of and changes in demand.

Patricia Ferguson is a ceramic specialist with an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. She has worked in London at the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum, and as Honorary Adviser on Ceramics to the National Trust (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland). She published Ceramics: 400 Years of British Collecting in 100 Masterpieces in 2016.