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Fong Chow
(1923- )
Fong Chow was born in 1923 to an English-speaking family in Tianjin, North China. Among the earliest westernized Chinese, at his grandfather left the country at age 14 to Hartford Connecticut where he became among the first Chinese to study in the United States.
Following in his grandfathers footsteps, Fong left for the Boston Museum School where he majored in ceramics, with a minor in painting and photography. After completing that program in 1951, he was accepted into the ceramics program at Alfred University, where he studied under Charles Harder. The program at Alfred was famous for teaching both studio and production methods in ceramics. This emphasis produced some of the finest production potters of the mid-twentieth century. To make ends meet while studying, Fong earned spare money by painting portraits.
In 1952, Fong was introduced to and ex-Alfred instructor, Glidden Parker, who ran a production ceramics studio. Parker hired Chow to work for Glidden Pottery in the role of designer and glaze developer. This proved to be beneficial to both parties involved, as Chow produced some of the most spectacular treatments in Glidden's history earning himself a coveted "Good Design" award from the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
After Glidden Pottery closed shop in 1958, Chow accepted an offer to work at the Metropolitan Museum, where he started as an assistant curator in the Asian Ceramics department. Eventually he was made full curator in charge of all pottery in the Met's collection, all the while maintaining his own ceramics studio producing fine art sculpture.
At age 50, Chow began training as a docent with the museum under infamous museum director Thomas Hoving. In this role, he began a late-life emphasis on education.
To learn more about Fong Chow:
• Fong Chow Oral History Interview
• Glidden Parker: An Analysis & History
• MODish: Glidden Pottery
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