Ms Beth McKillop

Beth McKillop is a senior research fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a tutor for the Rare Book School, University of Virginia. She was president of the Oriental Ceramic Society of London from 2018 to 2021. Beth’s career began at the British Library, as a curator researching Chinese and Korean books and manuscripts until 2004.

Later she was Keeper of the Asia Department and then Director of Collections at the V&A until 2016. Her publications include Korean Art and Design (1992); “The History of the Book in Korea.” in The Oxford Companion to the Book, edited by Michael F. Suarez, S.J. and H. R. Woudhuysen, (2010); and “A Royal Manuscript of 1809 in the British Library” in International Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology 4(2010):174-191.

In addition to her interest in Korean book history, she also writes and teaches about Korean ceramics, with a focus on Choson dynasty and modern wares. She contributes to SOAS Asian Art Diploma courses on Chinese and Korean topics.

I am currently completing an introductory book about the history of ceramics in Korea, with Jane Portal as my co-author.