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Full title: James Marshall Plumer’s Collecting Journey in War-torn Japan: Mingei Pottery, Folk Deities, and Ainu ArtThis free lecture will be held in room 1010, Weiser Hall, and virtually on Zoom. Registration is required for the webinar; once you've registered, joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at https://myumi.ch/79Q63
James Marshall Plumer (1899–1960) is remembered as a U-M professor and authority on East Asian ceramics, best known for identifying the kiln site of Jian (Tenmoku) ware in China. Between 1948 and 1949, Plumer served as Fine Arts Advisor to the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, traveling around Japan to assess the condition of cultural properties. During the trips, he collected Mingei (Folk Art Movement) pottery, images of folk deities, and Ainu objects, which later became part of the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s (UMMA) holdings. Drawing upon these objects and his personal diaries, this talk examines Plumer’s collecting journey and highlights his legacy as an advocate of Japanese art and influential cultural leader in the immediate postwar period.
Natsu Oyobe, Ph.D., is curator of Asian art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Specializing in modern and contemporary Japanese art, she has curated numerous art exhibitions, including Isamu Noguchi and Qi Baishi: Beijing 1930 (2013) and Clay as Soft Power: Shigaraki Ware in Postwar America and Japan (2022). She is also a co-curator of Menoko Yukar: Woven Stories of Ainu Women, which will open at UMMA in 2028.
Image: James Marshall Plumer at Yue ware kiln site, Zhejiang province, China. James Marshall Plumer Papers, FSA.A.14, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, donated by Caroline I. Plumer, 1961.
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Event Venue
Weiser Hall, University of Michigan, 1429 Hill St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3105, United States
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