Andrew L Maske

Andrew L Maske

Museums are spaces that use physical objects to create opportunities for engagement, learning and wonder. Over my career as an art historian of Asia, I have been fascinated with the potential of museums to reach audiences far beyond those who have traditionally patronized them.

I performed my doctoral work at Oxford University in association with the Ashmolean Museum, the oldest museum in Britain, which grew out of “Cabinet of Curiosities” collections assembled in the seventeenth century. After several years teaching Asian art history at the Rhode Island School of Design, I served as curator of Japanese Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, whose collection spans fields as diverse as ethnography, art, maritime culture, natural history and Colonial America.

I am actively recruiting M.A. and Ph.D. students who are interested in museum studies. Contact the department for more information about our graduate programs, or email me to discuss the possibility of coming to study with me at Wayne State.

Research interest(s)/area of expertise

Traditional and contemporary Asian ceramics, the history and practice of Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu), Japanese woodblock prints, women in Japanese art, the history of collecting, exhibit design, Japanese Edo period culture, entertainment culture in Japan, Asian folk art, archaeology, ceramics materials analysis.

Research

My research focuses on the history of production and use of Asian ceramics, especially those made for the cultural practice of chanoyu, known in English as the Japanese tea ceremony. I am also interested in the historical role of women in visual and performing arts of Japan. Over my career, I have contributed to exhibitions or museum publications in countries that include Japan, China, Great Britain, France, Canada and the United States.

Education

• Post-doctoral fellowship, Harvard University, 1996
• DPhil (Ph.D.), Japanese Art History, Oxford University, 1995
• Research student, Japanese art Kyushu University, 1988

Awards and grants

 U.S. Fulbright Grant - China, 2006-2007

Selected publications

• Brilliant Illusions: Crafted Forms by Li Hongwei. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Art Museum, 2022
• Tradition and Triumph: Japanese Women Artists in the John Fong and Colin Johnstone Collection. Denver Art Museum/University of Washington Press, 2021
• “The Pursuit of Harmony: Modern and Contemporary Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection.” In Jill Deupi, ed. Hands and Earth: Six Perspectives on Japanese Contemporary Ceramics. Miami: Lowe Art Museum, 2018
• “Shattering the Past: Ceramic Art in the Twenty-first Century” in Fang, Lili ed. The Blending and Interaction of Civilizations: An Exhibition of the East-West Dialogue in Ceramic Art. Beijing: Wenlian Publishing, 2016
• Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain. Ashgate Publishing (Routledge), 2011
• “Defining a New Type of Japanese ‘Folk’ Ceramic: Nishi Sarayama Ware.” In Blythe McCarthy, ed. Scientific Research on Historic Asian Ceramics: Proceedings of the Fourth Forbes Symposium at the Freer Gallery of Art. London: Archetype Publications, 2009

Courses taught by Andrew L Maske

Fall Term 2024 (current)

• ANT5600 - Museum Studies

Winter Term 2023

• ANT3600 - Topics in Anthropology
• ANT6680 - Studies in Cultural Anthropology