Home2023-09-06T16:11:33+08:00

Welcome to the

Southeast Asian Ceramic Society
(SEACS)

What is the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society?

The Southeast Asian Ceramic Society was founded in 1969 in Singapore to widen appreciation and acquire knowledge of the ceramic art of China and countries adjacent to China, especially those of Southeast Asia. To pursue this aim, members meet in live or online sessions to hear talks by both local and international experts, to share information and to study and compare ‘pots’. Members also have access to previous recorded lectures and events, but many of this website’s features are free and available to all as you will discover. For example:

Read our member’ collecting stories (and the lessons they learned) in “Ceramic Stories”, found here.

And we have one of the most accessed, readable and referred-to summaries of early shipwrecks of the region that can be found on the internet today. Jump there from here.

Ceramic sale poster

Upcoming events

In addition to our monthly programmes in 2024, our upco [...]

Who we are and what we do…

We are a non-profit society, founded in 1969, whose members are interested in Southeast Asian ceramics. Members needn’t be collectors, just interested in the various roles ceramics play in history, trade and culture. We are open to all from beginners to academics to specialized collectors. The Society arranges monthly programmes held on ZOOM with both local and international experts. The majority of our programmes are now recorded and available to members as a benefit of membership.

For local members, hands-on ‘handling sessions’ are held on a regular basis with experts to help members learn how to identify correctly the ceramics they may own or be considering for purchase. We also arrange an annual ceramics and book sale (featuring items de-accessioned from members’ collections) that includes many hard-to-find, out-of-print books on ceramics. Our online presence includes the digitisation of some of our publications. Field trips to both local and international destinations are regular member highlights.

The society and its early exhibitions “of the then-little-known ceramic tradition of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam caused a stir amongst the oriental ceramic cognoscenti, … inspired a generation of younger scholars and stimulated the interest of government archaeological departments throughout Southeast Asia.” As a consequence, ceramic societies were to emerge in ensuing years in West Malaysia, Jakarta, Manila and Hong Kong, following the lead of the Singapore chapter. Browse the many resources open to all on our website.

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Ceramic News

10Mar 2024

SEACS Councillor on “Lost Gold Coins of the Old Singapore Library”

SEACS Hon. Secretary Foo Shu Tieng is also an Associate Librarian with the National Library, Singapore, and works with the Singapore and Southeast Asia collections. She has a newly published article on the two ancient gold coins that were uncovered near present-day Keppel Harbour that unfortunately vanished before they could be properly studied. Listen to the podcast that tells the story.

18Jan 2024

Farewell to former SEACS member Prof. Elizabeth Moore

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of a former member, Professor Elizabeth Moore. Most SEACS members will remember her from when she was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre (NSC) at the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS) in Singapore, in 2016. She had a long history with Singapore, however, having taught at the Tanglin Trust and the American Scho [...]

8Jan 2024

Dr. Li Baoping’s members’ lecture on China’s Blue-and-White Ceramics now available online

SEACS members can now view our January programme: a richly-illustrated talk by Dr. Li Baoping on China's blue-and-white porcelain, covering both those iconic pieces that are our earliest evidence to the remaining questions as to the when, where and how's of China's most iconic ceramic. Non-members can view the society's extensive library of previously video-recorded lectures by joining SEACS online.

21Dec 2023

SEACS Members Share Highlights of their November field trip to Northern Thailand

The report of our November trip to Northern Thailand to visit its kiln sites and museums is now ready to share. Our sincere thanks to participant Koh Tai Ann for editing our participants' reports and feedback, which can be downloaded here. Many pictures from the field trip can be found on SEACS' Facebook page as well. For those of you who don't know the special relationship SEACS has with the Tha [...]

16Dec 2023

Our sympathy to the family of Lifetime SEACS member TAN Shook Fong

Tan Shook Fong  (or 'Shook' as she was known to her many friends) was an active lifetime resident member of SEACS, who also served on our Council from 2006 to 2012,  including Vice-President of the society from 2010-2012. She loved to attend our meetings, greeting other members by name and volunteering when she could, as well as participating in several of our field trips to foreign destinations [...]

4Dec 2023

SEACS Members return from their Field Trip to Sukhothai & surrounding kiln sites

Sixteen intrepid SEACS members led by its two Thailand-resident member experts (Dawn Rooney and Khun Atthasit Sukkham) spent an invigorating and stimulating long weekend in November exploring the kiln sites and museums of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai. Read their adventures and discoveries on the SEACS Facebook page. An article on the trip and its discoveries will be published shortly on our 'Past [...]

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