Jessica Harrison-Hall at the
British Museum in Gallery 95, the Sir
Percival David Collection of Chinese Ceramics.
Jessica Lucy Kilgour Harrison-HallFSA (
Chinese: 霍吉淑;
pinyin: Huò jí shū; born 1965) is a British art historian,
sinologist, curator and author. She is currently Head of the China section, Curator of Chinese Ceramics and Decorative Arts at the
British Museum and is also Curator of the Sir
Percival David Collection at the British Museum. She researches, lectures and writes about Chinese history and its global connections through visual and material culture.
Biography
Harrison-Hall has an MA in Chinese and Fine Art from
Edinburgh University (1987, including a year at the Chinese Language Department of
University of Shandong in
Jinan 1984–1985). In 1991, Harrison-Hall joined the British Museum as a project curator for
Jessica Rawson in the Department of Oriental Antiquities (now department of Asia). She became Curator of Chinese Ceramics in 1994, curator of the Sir Percival David Collection in 2006, and Head of the China Section in 2015. She was President of the
Oriental Ceramics Society from 2015 to 2018. She is the recipient of two major Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) awards: "Ming Courts and Contacts 1400-1450" project (with (
Craig Clunas) (2012)[1] and "Cultural Creativity in Qing China 1796-1912" (with
Julia Lovell) (2020)[2]
She is married to the writer and film maker Martin Keady with whom she has three children.[3]
Exhibitions and Galleries
2023 - "China's Hidden Century, 1796-1912" at the British Museum
2017 - The Sir
Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia
1994 - "Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics" staged at the National History Museum in Taipei.
2014 - "Ming: Fifty Years that Changed China"[4][5][6]
2009-2012 - "China: Journey to the East" - a travelling exhibition, working with seven UK museums (Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery; The Herbert, Coventry, Willis Museum, Basingstoke; Museum and Winter Gardens, Sunderland; York City Gallery; Manchester Museum; Sheffield Museums Weston Park., accompanied by Harrison-Hall's children book Pocket Timeline of China (2007)
2000 - "Vietnam: Behind the Lines: Images of War 1965-75" - the first exhibition in the West to examine Northern Vietnamese artists work from the American-Vietnam war.
Awards and honours
2017 Book Prize Specialist Publication Accolade - Awarded by the International Convention of Asia Scholars for (eds.) Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400-1450, jointly edited with
Craig Clunas, Jessica Harrison-Hall and
Yu-ping Luk (2016). The book was described by the judges as 'An outstanding connective history in pursuit of China's historical difference’[7]
Selected publications
China's Hidden Century: 1796-1912 (2023) ISBN 978-0714124933 (co-edited with
Julia Lovell)
Creators of Modern China: 100 Lives from Empire to Republic 1796–1912 (2023) ISBN 978-0500480809 (co-edited with
Julia Lovell)
China: A History in Objects, Thames and Hudson, London, 2017.[8]ISBN978 0 5005 1970 7. Italian and Portuguese translations (2018); Chinese (Taiwan), Chinese (China), Korean translations (2019-2020)
Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400-1450 (2016) (Co edited with Craig Clunas and Yu-ping Luk)
ISBN978 0 8615 9205 0
Ming: 50 years that changed China, British Museum Publications, London, 2014 (Co edited with Craig Clunas)[9]ISBN978 0 7141 2477 3
Ming: Art, People and Places, British Museum Publications, London, 2014.
ISBN978 0 7141 2483 4
Passion for Porcelain: Masterpieces of Ceramics from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, (co-authors Luisa Mengoni, Hilary Williams, Aileen Dawson), National Museum of China, Beijing, (2012) Lu Zhangshen (ed.)
ISBN978 7 5398 5790 9 (Chinese and English)
Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection, (co-author Regina Krahl), London, 2009
ISBN978 0 7141 2454 4 (translated into Chinese)
Vietnam: Behind the Lines - Images from the War 1965-75, British Museum Publications, London, 2002.
ISBN0 7141 1497 9.
Ming Ceramics - A Catalogue of the late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, British Museum Publications, London, 2001.
ISBN0 7141 1488 X. Translated as Catalogue of Ming Ceramics in the British Museum. Volumes 1 and 2 / 大英博物館藏中國明代陶瓷, Beijing 2014
ISBN978 7 5134 0614 7
2012 - "Passion for Porcelain" - a collaborative exhibition with the V&A and National Museum of China, displayed at National Museum of China, coinciding with the UK Now initiative in China 2012 as part of the Cultural Olympiadhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/24/ming-british-museum-empire-strikes-back-50-years-changed-china
Jessica Harrison-Hall at the
British Museum in Gallery 95, the Sir
Percival David Collection of Chinese Ceramics.
Jessica Lucy Kilgour Harrison-HallFSA (
Chinese: 霍吉淑;
pinyin: Huò jí shū; born 1965) is a British art historian,
sinologist, curator and author. She is currently Head of the China section, Curator of Chinese Ceramics and Decorative Arts at the
British Museum and is also Curator of the Sir
Percival David Collection at the British Museum. She researches, lectures and writes about Chinese history and its global connections through visual and material culture.
Biography
Harrison-Hall has an MA in Chinese and Fine Art from
Edinburgh University (1987, including a year at the Chinese Language Department of
University of Shandong in
Jinan 1984–1985). In 1991, Harrison-Hall joined the British Museum as a project curator for
Jessica Rawson in the Department of Oriental Antiquities (now department of Asia). She became Curator of Chinese Ceramics in 1994, curator of the Sir Percival David Collection in 2006, and Head of the China Section in 2015. She was President of the
Oriental Ceramics Society from 2015 to 2018. She is the recipient of two major Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) awards: "Ming Courts and Contacts 1400-1450" project (with (
Craig Clunas) (2012)[1] and "Cultural Creativity in Qing China 1796-1912" (with
Julia Lovell) (2020)[2]
She is married to the writer and film maker Martin Keady with whom she has three children.[3]
Exhibitions and Galleries
2023 - "China's Hidden Century, 1796-1912" at the British Museum
2017 - The Sir
Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia
1994 - "Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics" staged at the National History Museum in Taipei.
2014 - "Ming: Fifty Years that Changed China"[4][5][6]
2009-2012 - "China: Journey to the East" - a travelling exhibition, working with seven UK museums (Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery; The Herbert, Coventry, Willis Museum, Basingstoke; Museum and Winter Gardens, Sunderland; York City Gallery; Manchester Museum; Sheffield Museums Weston Park., accompanied by Harrison-Hall's children book Pocket Timeline of China (2007)
2000 - "Vietnam: Behind the Lines: Images of War 1965-75" - the first exhibition in the West to examine Northern Vietnamese artists work from the American-Vietnam war.
Awards and honours
2017 Book Prize Specialist Publication Accolade - Awarded by the International Convention of Asia Scholars for (eds.) Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400-1450, jointly edited with
Craig Clunas, Jessica Harrison-Hall and
Yu-ping Luk (2016). The book was described by the judges as 'An outstanding connective history in pursuit of China's historical difference’[7]
Selected publications
China's Hidden Century: 1796-1912 (2023) ISBN 978-0714124933 (co-edited with
Julia Lovell)
Creators of Modern China: 100 Lives from Empire to Republic 1796–1912 (2023) ISBN 978-0500480809 (co-edited with
Julia Lovell)
China: A History in Objects, Thames and Hudson, London, 2017.[8]ISBN978 0 5005 1970 7. Italian and Portuguese translations (2018); Chinese (Taiwan), Chinese (China), Korean translations (2019-2020)
Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400-1450 (2016) (Co edited with Craig Clunas and Yu-ping Luk)
ISBN978 0 8615 9205 0
Ming: 50 years that changed China, British Museum Publications, London, 2014 (Co edited with Craig Clunas)[9]ISBN978 0 7141 2477 3
Ming: Art, People and Places, British Museum Publications, London, 2014.
ISBN978 0 7141 2483 4
Passion for Porcelain: Masterpieces of Ceramics from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, (co-authors Luisa Mengoni, Hilary Williams, Aileen Dawson), National Museum of China, Beijing, (2012) Lu Zhangshen (ed.)
ISBN978 7 5398 5790 9 (Chinese and English)
Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection, (co-author Regina Krahl), London, 2009
ISBN978 0 7141 2454 4 (translated into Chinese)
Vietnam: Behind the Lines - Images from the War 1965-75, British Museum Publications, London, 2002.
ISBN0 7141 1497 9.
Ming Ceramics - A Catalogue of the late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, British Museum Publications, London, 2001.
ISBN0 7141 1488 X. Translated as Catalogue of Ming Ceramics in the British Museum. Volumes 1 and 2 / 大英博物館藏中國明代陶瓷, Beijing 2014
ISBN978 7 5134 0614 7
2012 - "Passion for Porcelain" - a collaborative exhibition with the V&A and National Museum of China, displayed at National Museum of China, coinciding with the UK Now initiative in China 2012 as part of the Cultural Olympiadhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/24/ming-british-museum-empire-strikes-back-50-years-changed-china