Winds of the Dragon on Cobalt Seas
18 March 2026 at 11:00:00
Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip
Jingdezhen porcelain jar
The dragon in ancient China was a powerful yet auspicious creature of myth and legend. Cavorting among vaporous clouds, it controlled the forces of wind, rain and water. The dragon became the most potent symbol of the emperor, who was regarded by his people as the Son of Heaven.
Over the centuries, skilled potters in China's great porcelain city of Jingdezhen developed fine ceremonial porcelain wares for generations of connoisseur emperors. Five-clawed dragons were painted as a required motif alongside delicate flowers, birds and butterflies.
The technical ingenuity of Jingdezhen's potters, cultivated by the emperors, stimulated an export trade in porcelain at first to the Middle East and later to the West, the story of which we will explore in today's lecture.
Anne Haworth has been a lecturer and guide at the Victoria and Albert Museum for more than 20 years and has given regular gallery talks at the British Museum. She was a lecturer for the Royal Collection Trust for 14 years, including 10 years guiding private tours of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. She is a visiting lecturer for Sotheby's Institute and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Since 2008, she has been a member of the London faculty of Eckerd College, Florida, teaching Art History.
She lectures extensively for private groups including the Arts Society, and has lectured on William Morris for the British Council and British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow. After studying Modern History at Durham University, she trained and became a senior specialist in ceramics at the head offices in London of Bonhams (1981-1986) and Christie's (1987-1995). From 1995 to 2002, she was resident in Shanghai, China, and gave lectures on the history of the China trade and European Chinoiserie to the international community of diplomats and expatriates in Shanghai and Beijing.
On returning to London in 2002 she worked on a short project cataloguing Chinese ceramics at Kensington Palace and became Hon. Membership Secretary and Treasurer of the French Porcelain Society.
Anne Haworth