THE MING DYNASTY: POWER, CRAFTSMANSHIP AND TEA IN CHINA'S EMPIRE OF BRIGHTNESS

From 1368, the Ming Dynasty came to power in Beijing, being characterised by production of glittering gold vessels, brilliantly coloured red lacquer, jade sculptures and the legendary 'Ming Vases'. The elite administrators wore stylish silks, enjoyed calligraphy and painting and cultivated classical gardens in which the tea ceremony flourished, while their wives wore those tiny, embroidered shoes. This lecture examines this renown, graceful, elegant time and the complex reasons for its success and decline 400 years later.

How to book this event:

To purchase tickets for the TAS Cambridge lecture on 21st May 2026

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After ticket purchase a Zoom link will be sent to attendees on 19th May 2026

You may log into the lecture from 10:30 AM on 21st May 2026, the Lecture will begin at 10:45 AM

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THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Ms Anne Haworth

Anne is a lecturer at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum and the Queen’s Gallery. She is a visiting lecturer for Regent's University, Sotheby's Institute and SOAS. Since 2008, she has been a member of the London faculty of Eckerd College, Florida, teaching Art History and is also an accredited Arts Society lecturer. For ten years she guided private evening tours of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. She lectures extensively for private groups, guides museum tours in London 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.