Cheltenham Art Gallery, The Oriental Collection and Mr Berkeley Smith

Even though this collection is closed to the public at the moment, I’m going to post anyway…I was recently at a Translating China Conference in London and heard Louise Tythacott speak about the Berkeley Smith ceramics collection at the Cheltenham Art Gallery. She has written on Shifting Tastes in Chinese Art: A History of the Berkeley Smith Collection of Chinese Ceramics at Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum (1921-1960)”. The Oriental Gallery at Cheltenham shows Chinese pottery and costume. The most unusual Chinese collection came from Mr. Berkeley Smith who spent much of his life in India. This includes rare pottery made in China for the Indian market. Recent bequests include early wares so it is now possible to see over 2000 years of Chinese ceramics.

Berkeley Smith was an Englishman based in India who collected ceramics and was in a unique position to collect Chinese ceramics that came along the route from China to India including from British and Indian troops that went to China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion, looted and brought their ill-gotten gains back to India. When he donated his collection in 1921 to Cheltenham it was the largest collection of Chinese ceramics in the UK.

Should you happen to be near Cheltenham it’s got to be worth stopping in to see…except they’re closed for refurbishment till October. Sadly there’s not much on their website and it doesn’t even really work properly – when I tried their search engine covering collections the terms “China”, “ceramics” and “Berkeley Smith” sadly returned nought! Anyway, now you know they have the collection you can arrange a trip in the winter.