Participants use petrographic microscopes to study ceramics during the Thin Section Petrography workshop, 2008.

Forbes program

An endowment in honor of John Forbes has supported fellowships, lectures, and symposia since 1986, all involving the application of scientific methods to the study of Asian art.

Forbes Workshops

July 21–22, 2009. Thin Section Petrography of Stone and Ceramic Cultural Materials
Dr. Chandra L. Reedy, University of Delaware

Forbes Fellows

1993–94. Hong Jong-Ouk, Research Institute of Cultural Properties, Seoul
Production techniques and regional characteristics of earthenware in the Three Kingdoms Period, Korea

1994–95. Bilinda Dewage Nandadeva, University of Delaware Ph.D. Program, Newark, DE
Materials and technology of Kandyan and southern mural painting traditions of Sri Lanka: mid-eighteenth to late nineteenth century

1995–96. Quangyu Wang, PhD program, Institute of Archaeology, University College of London, England
Study on black layers in Qucun bronzes

1996–97. Cynthia Ryan, Maryland
Binding media analysis of Central Asian manuscript paintings

1997–98. Michelle Taube, New York
Corrosion study of Chinese bronzes based on samples in the Freer Gallery Reference Collection

1999. Sharada Srinivasan, Institute of Archaeology, University College of London, England
Characterization of Copper Alloys from Peninsular India

1999–2000. Liu Wei, Department of Archaeology, Peking University, Beijing
Analysis of low temperature glazed porcelain from Guantai kiln, China

2000–2001. Su Rongyu, Institute for the History of Natural Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
Corrosion on Shang bronzes from South China: A case study of Chengdu bronzes

2006–2007. Yang Junchang, Shannxi Institute of Archaeology, Xi'an
Studies on archaeological materials from Xi'an: Gold, silver and jade

2007–08. Yae Takahashi, State University of New York, New York
Occurrence and use of organic pigments in East Asian art