Curator Christine Gervais will describe new acquisitions made by Rienzi over the last few years. A magnificent Wedgwood plaque will be highlighted, and the exciting new research that has been acquired about the plaque will be described. Also presented will be the recently acquired Sèvres made during the Revolutionary period and a very rare Meissen covered punch bowl made for an 18th century German men’s society
Christine Gervais holds a BA in History from Trinity University, an MA in American Studies from George Washington University, and an MPhil with distinction in the History of Art from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She authored American Art and Philanthropy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the MFAH and Silver: An American Art. She has lectured on 18th-century portrait miniatures, the English Arts and Crafts movement, and French Art Deco. In 2008, Ms. Gervais curated the MFAH’s first exhibition of portrait miniatures. She has also curated English Taste: The Art of Dining in the Eighteenth Century, as well as Pattern Repeat: Wallpaper Then and Now. She curated the touring show, Houghton Hall: Portrait of an English Country House. Her next exhibition is Fire/Works: Enamel Art through the Centuries, which will open at the MFAH in December 2020.