Date: Tuesday 19 May 2025
Registration: 6:30 – 7:00pm
Lecture: 7:00 – 8:00pm
Dinner: 8:00pm*
Place: The Hong Kong Club
Lecture only: $200 Members; $250 Non-members
Lecture & Dinner: $1,200 Members; $1,300 Non-members
The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong is delighted to welcome Dr Nicole Chiang to present a talk on her research into the imperial collection of the Emperor Qianlong. Based on her publication, Emperor Qianlong’s Hidden Treasure: Reconsidering the Collection of the Qing Imperial Household, the talk is an important contribution to our understanding of how the collection was defined, built, and used.
The collection of the Qing imperial household during the Qianlong reign (1736–95) has often been seen as a display of power, an attribute of legitimate rule and a manifestation of the emperor’s desire to model and control aspects of the universe. However, evidence shows objects which entered the imperial collection through a careful selection process were in fact boxed up and removed from the public gaze. This talk will reconsider the description and definition of the collection and analyse the formation of the collection as a collective effort of many specialists, rather than the personal activity of the emperor. In addition, this talk will propose that the purpose of collecting during the Qianlong period was not to demonstrate imperial power, but to gather information essential to the ruling of the empire.
Dr Nicole Chiang is a Curator at the Hong Kong Palace Museum and the author of Emperor Qianlong’s Hidden Treasure: Reconsidering the Collection of the Qing Imperial Household. She began her career at the National Palace Museum in Taipei and subsequently served at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath. She has contributed to two British Museum exhibitions and taught at The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) where she received her PhD. Her research interests include Qing imperial art and the history and theories of collecting.
We remind members to abide by the Hong Kong Club’s smart dress code for guests: Business Smart (Jeans, T-shirts, tracksuits, shorts, shoes for sports activities and flip-flops are not acceptable. No denim may be worn at any time in the Club.)
*Please note that dinner reservations can only be confirmed upon payment and will be closed a week prior to the event. Please contact us to reserve a place.