6th December - Talk at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery

The Quakers Tea Table Overturn'd: Moral Dangers of the 18th Century Tea Party
Talk by Oliver Pickering and Liz Stainforth. Free, no booking necessary

Monday, 6 December 2010, 5.15pm Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery,University of Leeds

Come and find out about the origins of the great British institution of tea drinking. Believe it or not, the tea party was a controversial and highly debated topic throughout the 18th century, regarded by some as a sign of weakening moral standards and by others as the height of refined social intercourse. The talk includes a discussion of the unpublished 1717 poem The Quakers Tea Table Overturn'd, from a manuscript held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library. It highlights a contemporary concern that young people in Quaker families may be tempted to partake of 'worldly pleasures' through indulging in the fashion for tea parties.

The development of tea drinking is traced through observations made by such eminent contemporaries as Jane Austen, William Cobbett and Samuel Johnson. The talk is held in association with the Gallery's temporary exhibition of late 18th century tea equipage, Vanity Ware: Affordable Luxury in the Late Georgian Period.

Upcoming HMI exhibition on Angkor Vat

One of our Leeds colleagues, Dr Ashley Thompson, has guest curated an exhibition of temple inscription rubbings from Angkor Vat. More info is on
http://www.henry-moore.org/hmi/exhibitions/angkor-wat
The exhibition raises a whole host of interesting questions about the limits of display. What is one displaying, when the actual exhibits are French colonial scholars' rubbings of commemorative and votive inscriptions added to a Cambodian Hindu temple by later generations of Buddhists? And the objects (are they sculptures? are they Cambodian or French?) are being shown in a British institution of modernist sculpture? What politics and what aesthetics are involved? This would be well worth a seminar...
Watch out for an education event at the HMI in Jan/Feb.

Student exhibition 2010: Artistic Legacies: Sir Michael Sadler and Quentin Bell

This year, the Art Gallery and Museums Studies MA students had to create two displays in the Gallery Education Room at Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery at the University. The students were divided in two groups, the Ceramics Group and Works on Paper Group. The Works on Paper Group was asked to select a number of works from the 'Bloomsbury Group' and 'Camden Town Group' to display in the upright cases and provide interpretative text for the visitor.

During the handling session we decided to put together an exhibition that told the story of the Bloomsbury and Camden Town Groups, their personal relationships within the group and Leeds through people like Sir Michael Sadler and Quentin Bell.

We selected several drawings and books to create an overarching narrative structure. We wanted to create a story that could be read visually, making it more accessible to the visitor who does not want to read through everything. However, our narrative was not as clear as we had hoped, and we attempted to do too much by deciding to have an exhibition leaflet, a laminate, an activity sheet and a poster. A simpler theme and better time management would have improved our exhibition.

This project gave us the opportunity to learn how to work in a team, be aware of the challenges that exist in setting up an exhibition, and to put in practice the work done in class.

'Artistic Legacies: Sir Michael Sadler and Quentin Bell' will be at the SABG until the 23rd of December 2010

Thanks to Abigail, Layla, the University of Leeds Library Special Collections, and the works on paper group.

Student Exhibition 2010: Vanity Ware

Ten students. Two display cases. A tableful of ceramics. A baptism of fire!

Our exhibition project was an early opportunity for us to bring together all the interpretation theory we’d learnt thus far and apply it to a range of domestic ceramics from the University’s collections. Ideally our exhibition would dazzle our tutors and attract thousands of creamware-hungry visitors to the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery. It didn’t… but we did learn a lot about ourselves, the importance of a clear interpretation strategy and the practicalities of designing and assembling an exhibition.

‘Vanity Ware’ focuses on the relationship between the form and function of Leeds creamware 1760-1810. Creamware was produced as a cheap alternative to porcelain. It was used, however, to consume relatively expensive commodities like tea, coffee, chocolate and sugar. Creamware thus represented the social aspirations of the middle-classes and the increased ‘ritualisation’ of their dining and drinking habits.

From this core concept we deliberated and decided upon various methods of interpretation, marketing and display. In general the choice and design of our interpretive information received praise, as did our decision to leave a comments book to collect visitor feedback. Our exhibition could have been improved with a tighter and stronger theme rather than attempting to do and say too much. Curating by committee presented some challenges which often prevented decisive decision making. However it provided a realistic taste of the array of perspectives and interests a curator must consider when designing and assembling an exhibition. Moreover we learnt from each other’s valuable experience, becoming wiser and more considerate as a result.

Vanity Ware will be at the SABG until the end of the year.

Thanks to Abigail, Layla, Hilary and the ceramics group.