AFA 18th Anniversary

Fig. 6: Dish with Ginkgo Leaves. Japanese, Edo period (1615–1868), Genroku era (1688−1704). Porcelain with underglaze blue (Hizen ware, Nabeshima type). Diam. 8 in. Courtesy, The Cleveland Museum of Art. The complex, abstracted design of ginkgo leaves and “Chinese grasses” (karakusa) is among the most interesting of the underglaze blue designs of its era. This type of dish was produced in sets of five and used along with sake cups for dining services. Decorative Arts (MESDA), in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, acquired a miniature painted box (Fig. 3) with the name of the original owner and his birthdate (on the inside). It is the only example from a recently discovered group (previously attributed to Pennsylvania) with identifiers, securely placing the box and the group in southwestern Virginia. MESDA also acquired a pair of rare North Carolina fraktur (Fig. 4) that are not only visually arresting, but relate to the fami ly of cra f t smen re sponsible for t he architecture in two of MESDA’s galleries. Moreover, Noah A. Moose, the artist, was also a tailor, which perhaps explains the exuberant clothing. Other acquisitions included a chest of drawers signed by furniture maker Karsten Petersen, making it the Rosetta stone for identifying his work. Longtime patrons Charles and Valerie Diker, promised ninety-one examples of important Native American art to The Metropolitan Museum of Art , which will be integrated into the American Wing. Toledo Museum of Art ’s Georgia Welles Apollo Society made possible the acquisition of three signif icant Native American works: an Acoma embroidered manta (circa 1850, one of only thirty-five known); a Cheyenne tipi; and a Santa Domingo Pueblo polychrome clay jar (Fig. 5). The Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame now has a pair of porcelain Monteiths—crenelated vessels used for cooling wine glasses—from 1861, acquired through a decorative arts purchase fund. The Cleveland Mu s eum of A r t pu rcha sed a g roup of Nabeshima porcelain, the f inest Japanese porcelain ever produced and representing the pinnacle of Japanese aesthetics in the medium. One of the dishes, with ginkgo leaves, was made for the Shogun in Edo (present-day Tokyo) and his retinue (Fig. 6). Though not recent acquisitions, some items are being reintroduced. This past year, following renovations at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, three hundred objects— including examples of American silver and Chinese export porcelain from the George Washington Memorial Service—were brought up from storage to the museum’s 3,275 square- foot decorative arts gallery, while the New Orle a ns Mus eum of A r t , fol lowi ng it s renovations, is highlighting selections from its Fig. 5: Polychrome pottery jar, Santo Domingo Pueblo, 1865-1875. Native clay, pigment, 19 x 16 in. Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio); Gift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society (2017.16). 18th Anniversary 100 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com