Research Materials: Subject Files
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Pope, John Alexander, 1906-1982
setName: label: See more items in
content: John Alexander Pope Papers
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: FSA.A1988.01, Series 4
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The bulk of the collection consists of Pope's research materials amassed over a lifetime of scholarly work on Asian ceramics. He travelled frequently, especially to Japan, and participated in international conferences on Chinese trade pottery. Whether on official business or engaged in research, he spent much of his time examining and evaluating museum and private collections of Asian ceramics. Pope organized his research materials into country files. He subdivided the China material by dynasty. He collected a large amount of material about Chinese export porcelain which he organized by country in which the ceramics were found. He was interested in local pottery and the influence that Chinese porcelain might have had on it. He studied how the Chinese adapted their designs to appeal to a foreign market. Much of his research material consists of photographs of ceramics. Sometimes a folder contains items that do not belong to that period or type but it is not evident whether this is deliberate (for example for comparison purposes or because Pope may have disagreed with identification of the item in question) or simply a mistake in filing. Pope filed all photographs related to a particular ceramic style or period in one large folder. To assist scholars interested in the provenance of particular items, photographs that identify the owner, dealer or institution holding the object have been placed in individual folders. Pope's subject files are generally ordered from general to specific.