Delight in Discovery: The Global Collections of Lloyd Cotsen

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Delight in Discovery: The Global Collections of Lloyd Cotsen Delight in Discovery: The Global Collections of Lloyd Cotsen and its companion exhibition, Five Ways of Looking, explore the eye of a collector and the anatomy of a collection. Delight in Discovery brings together diverse works of art, primarily textiles, collected by Cotsen over a 60-year period. To better understand Cotsen’s vision and to learn what inspired him to assemble such unusual, but exceptional works of art, a small number of his personal photographs are included in the exhibition [Fig. 1]. The works gathered here are drawn from multiple collections built by Cotsen, but most come from the Cotsen Textile Collection, which was gifted to the George Washington University in 2018 by his wife, Margit Sperling Cotsen and the estate of Lloyd Costen. Five Ways of Looking features 90 pieces from the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection [Fig. 2], which was also part of the 2018 gift. The collection was created as a resource for scholars, artists, students, and curators and is housed in the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center, opening on the museum’s lower level in April 2020. The Five Ways of Looking exhibition demonstrates the extraordinary breadth of information contained in a single fragment of cloth.

Cover | Textile fragment detail, Peru, Nazca/Wari culture, sixth to ninth century, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection T-1132


Fig. 1 | Lloyd Cotsen (American, 1929-2017), women weaving a carpet, Greece (Megara or Argos), 1954

Fig. 2 | Girl’s shoulder mantle detail, Peru, Incan culture, Late Intermediate period (800-1000 CE), Cotsen Textile Collection NT-0963


Fig. 3 | Lloyd Cotsen excavating at Lerna, Greece, c. 1975

Lloyd Cotsen

(1929—2017)

Lloyd Cotsen is best known as the

In 1954, Cotsen commenced graduate

marketing genius behind the Neutrogena

studies in architecture at Princeton and

brand. While his success as a businessman

accepted a position as a field architect

made his art collecting possible, it is

at the important Mycenaean Bronze Age

his educational and early professional

site of Lerna, on the east coast of the

experiences that influenced the choices he

Peloponnesus. In 1955–1956 he was a

made as a connoisseur and collector.

fellow of the American School of Classical

Cotsen graduated from Princeton University in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He served in the Navy during the Korean War and while stationed in Japan, spent much of

Studies in Athens. During that year and over several future summers, Cotsen traveled, studied, photographed, and excavated in Greece [Fig. 3].

his leave time exploring small antique shops.

Cotsen spent much of his adult life

Cotsen’s experience in Asia aroused a life-

travelling the world. His adventures

long interest in Japanese art and culture. He

contextualized his artistic curiosity and

also had a strong appreciation for Chinese

fuelled his passion for education and

art and archaeology, topics he studied while

culture. His knowledge of the objects in

at Princeton. Cotsen acquired some of his

his collections was extensive; he was a

first works of fine art while in Asia, including

scholar first, and it was his recognition of

painted scrolls, sculpture, ancient bronzes,

the cultural and historic relevance of art that

and Japanese prints.

drove his collecting.


Cotsen did not seek to establish the largest or the most comprehensive collections...Rather, he sought to encourage inquiry and to support research.

Fig. 4 | Fragment of Sarasa trade cloth detail, made in India (Coromandel Coast, possibly Tamil Nadu) for the Japanese market, 1650–1725, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection T-2854


Five Ways of Looking: The Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection One of the most unusual

system. The accessibility and

characteristics about Cotsen

the small scale of the textiles

as a collector was his all-

invite close examination: They

encompassing fascination with

draw the viewer in to explore the

weaving and woven structures.

minute, yet extraordinary feats of

He realized the importance of

technical achievement as well as

textiles as mediums for cultural

the captivating flaws.

expression and historical testimony, and grasped that a small fragment could convey almost all the information that a complete piece could.

Using the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection, Five Ways of Looking explores many threads of knowledge. While the information contained in any

Cotsen’s perception of the utility

global collection of textiles is

of small and fragmentary items

myriad, this exhibition highlights

led him to develop the Cotsen

four broad topics: iconography

Textile Traces Study Collection,

[cover], origin [Fig. 4], technique

a group of nearly 4,000 textile

[Fig. 5], and material and

fragments and small, complete

innovation [Fig. 6], including

garments and accessories. Each

examples as early as 300 BCE

item in the collection is mounted

and from all over the world.

and stored in either a 14 x 14 inch or 14 x 23 inch archival folio and box. The folios allow the textiles to be safely handled, while the boxes, organized by region and date, protect the folios and allow for a highly organized

This exhibition also demonstrates the purpose of the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection: to encourage scholars and students to use textiles as a primary resource. Despite their


Fig. 5 | Sampler detail, England, ca. 1660, Cotsen Textile,Traces Study Collection T-0341

important role in human history,

Cotsen did not seek to

textiles are often treated as

establish the largest or the most

secondary evidence. Prior to the

comprehensive collections, or to

20th century, scholars dismissed

provide an ultimate interpretation.

textiles as peripheral material;

Rather, he sought to encourage

in part because they were

inquiry and to support research.

associated with women and with

Five Ways of Looking illustrates

women’s work. This perception,

the extraordinary breadth of

combined with the scarcity of

knowledge contained in each

textiles in historical contexts

of these textile fragments.

(objects made from organic

Cotsen leaves it to us to realize

materials are inherently transient),

their potential.

resulted in a lack of scholarly research on the topic and denied acknowledgment of their important role in human history.


Philanthropy Over a lifetime as a collector and

very engaged with teaching and

connoisseur, Cotsen maintained

education. Cotsen established

goals that were fundamentally

the Cotsen Foundation for the Art

philanthropic; he wished for each

of Teaching in 2001 to transform

object to contribute to scholarship

good teachers into great teachers.

and to promote an understanding

The foundation offers mentoring

of underappreciated art forms.

opportunities to elementary school

The same care and reverence

teachers in Southern California,

that went in to building his

and as of 2019, has over 1,500

collections extended to their

alumni. The Cotsen Foundation

long-term stewardship. When

for Academic Research was

donating these important works

created in 2006 to provide

of art, Cotsen carefully selected

support for scholars, students, and

institutions that would make them

institutions embarking on projects

the most available to the public

relating to Cotsen art collections.

and support ongoing educational

In 1999, the Institute of

and scholarly initiatives.

Archaeology at UCLA changed

Sharing knowledge about art was one of Cotsen’s primary interests. His philanthropic endeavours were

its name to the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology to acknowledge Cotsen’s transformative contributions to the school.

Fig. 6 | Shihoko Fukumoto detail (Japanese, b. 1945), Shade of the Sun, 1995, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection T-1596


In total, there are currently eight Cotsen collections residing with museums in the United States and one in China: Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection

George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum

The Cotsen Textile Collection The Neutrogena Collection

Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe

The Cotsen Children’s Book Collections

Princeton University

The Cotsen Japanese Bamboo Basket Collection

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

The Cotsen Contemporary American Basket Collection

Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin

The Cotsen Turned Wood Collection The Cotsen Noah’s Ark Collection

Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

The Cotsen Chinese Bronze Mirror Study Collection

Shanghai Museum, China

The Cotsen Collection of Cuneiform Tablets

University of California, Los Angeles, Young Research Library


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