Our recent OCS handling session at the British Museum was an opportunity to revisit the famous 1935 International Exhibition of Chinese Art. Held in London, this exhibition was a landmark moment for the study of Chinese art in the West. Several OCS founding members were closely involved.
OCS members were given the rare opportunity to handle objects that were part of that famous 1935 exhibition. Curator Xin Wenyuan selected pieces currently in the British Museum collection that had belonged to early OCS members, including founder George Eumorfopoulos, Henry J. Oppenheim, Mrs Brenda Zara Seligman. These pieces had originally been lent to the 1935 exhibition.
Handling these very objects made the session particularly special with an absorbing discussion about how these pieces have been understood past and present. Exploring and understanding earlier scholarship and questioning anew makes these sessions rewarding for all.
For further photographs from the event, please visit Instagram @theorientalceramicsociety. A full article on the handling session will be published in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society in June 2026.