Probably found by John C. Shaw (1934-2024) in Thailand [1]
?-1986
John R. Menke (1919-2009), gift from John C. Shaw [2]
From 1986
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of John R. Menke [3]
Notes:
[1] See Study Collection object card, copy in object file. Object is described as, “Pottery [/] Thailand [/] Kalong [//] Source: gift to the donor[, John R. Manke,] from John Shaw.”
See also John C. Shaw, “Kalong Introduction” [webpage], “Shaw Collection,”
http://shawcollection.com/categery.php?pid=8. 15 October 2024. According to John C. Shaw’s website, he first visited Kalong in 1976.
John C. Shaw (1934-2024) was an English-born businessman and collector of Thai ceramics, Thai lacquer wares, silver, and other objects. Shaw attended Magdalen College at Oxford University and later married Pat Kemasingki, the daughter of a high-ranking Thai army officer. Shaw and his wife became interested in ceramics when they lived in Indonesia in the early 1970's. The couple started collecting Chinese export wares, but they shifted their focus to Thai ceramics when they relocated to Thailand. Shaw lived in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand between 1976 and 2001 and collected ceramics from sites in the region. Shaw also acquired objects from dealers and collectors in Thailand. He was the author of several books on ceramics, including the most important text in English on the wares and kilns in northern Thailand, entitled “Northern Thai Ceramics” (1981). His other book, “Introducing Thai Ceramics Also Burmese and Khmer” (1987), was reprinted by Citylife Publications as “Thai Ceramics” in 2009.
[2] See incoming receipt, dated April 7, 1986, copy in object file. The object was transferred from John R. Menke to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on April 7, 1986. Object is described as part of, “Thai Ceramics: [/] Kiln water (Kalong Kiln) (1 plate, 7 bowls).”
John R. Menke (1919-2009) was a nuclear physicist and a collector of Southeast Asian ceramics for over forty years. Born in New York, Menke receive a Bachelor of Science from both the School of Engineering and the School of Physics at Columbia University, New York, NY. He worked in Southeast Asia on the acquisition of uranium and formed much of his collection of Southeast Asian ceramics at that time. In 1945, he married Betty Beyer (1920-2012) and the couple had two children. Menke was also a close friend of Robert P. Griffing Jr. (1914-1979) who was the Director (1947-1963) of the Honolulu Academy of Arts (now Honolulu Museum of Art). Objects from his collection may also be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
See David P. Rehfuss, "Ceramic Sherds from Southeast Asia—The Freer Study Collection and its Donors," Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2008, http://SEAsianCeramics.asia.si.edu.
[3] See Deed of Gift, signed by the donor, John R Menke, on December 20, 1986, and by the museum’s director on December 29, 1986, copy in object file.
The object is part of the museum’s Freer Study Collection.
