China of the Most Fashionable Sort:
Chinese Export Porcelain in Colonial America October 15, 2015 at 6:30 PM
Ms. Suzanne Hood’s presentation of the same title will show how a decorative arts perspective broadens the stories archaeology can tell by highlighting one of the largest groups of artifacts recovered from Colonial America archaeological sites: Chinese Export Porcelain. First crossing the Atlantic with the settlers at Jamestown, this porcelain was a valuable commodity that served not only as a symbol of the society the settlers had left behind, but of the wealth and status of those who owned them. Ms. Hood will extrapolate archaeological evidence to bring complexity and nuance to the curatorial understanding of the Chinese porcelain that was present in the Colonial South. Within this context, she will include Charlestonian examples of pre-Drayton and Drayton owned pieces, which are now housed in the Drayton Hall Museum Collections as well as private collections.




