Eternal Spring: Ceramics from the Weare-West Family Trust

June 12, 2024–December 28, 2025

Ingrid & J. K. Lee Study Center

A tall white ceramic pot with bamboo, tress, and flowers painted on it in blue — *brush pot*, 1600s, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), China, Promised gift of the Weare-West Family Trust, PG2023.072

Eternal Spring evokes auspicious ideas of health, prosperity, and immortality as conveyed through the decoration, color, and even the shape of ceramic vessels from China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. These ceramics were highly valued in the cultures that produced them, and their quality has fueled a worldwide trade since antiquity. They also represent many years of passionate collecting by John C. West and his late wife Mary E. Weare, M.D., of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Four rotations of textiles and works on paper further expand and complement the themes of Eternal Spring. They include 1. Cranes, 2. Pines, 3. Bamboo, and 4. Plum.