A cultural object lesson

MEHER McArthur has a theory about getting to know the wide world of Asian art. Just as food from far-flung places can cultivate a taste for international understanding, artworks can pique curiosity about Asian cultural history.

“People are really drawn to the stuff, not so much the cultures. But once they get interested in the objects, they get interested in the cultures,” says McArthur, a specialist in Japanese art whose book, “The Arts of Asia: Materials, Techniques, Styles,” comes to life in “Jade, Silk and Porcelain: The Materials of Asian Art,” an exhibition she has guestcurated for the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Featuring raw materials and finished objects of jade, silk, porcelain, lacquer, ivory, bamboo, gold, paper, wood and stone, the show runs through May 27 (www.pacificasiamuseum.org/calendar/exhibits.htm).

“The motivation for writing the book was partly to start with the materials themselves because that’s what’s been so fascinating to Westerners over the centuries,” she says. “The Chinese guarded the secret of silk-making for a long time. When the Italians first saw porcelain in China, they thought it was made of ground-up cowrie shells, or porcellana. Misunderstandings go along with the fascination.”

McArthur draws heavily from local collections, revealing their strength along with artistic secrets.

“We don’t know what treasures we have here,” she says.

-- Suzanne Muchnic