Roxanna Brown

Roxanna Brown (b 1946, d 2008) was a prominent authority in Southeast Asian ceramics, director of the Bangkok University Ceramics Museum. "Questions Surround the Life and Death of an Antiquities Scholar" by Marcia Ann Overland "Chronicle of Higher Education", September 14, 2008 [http://chronicle.com/news/article/?id=5143&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en article] ] , [Rooney, Dawn F. 2008. "Roxanna Brown (1946-2008)". Orientations. 39, no. 6: 108. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/247875882&referer=brief_results OCLC] ]

She was born in Illinois, and received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1968, and a masters from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. In 2004, she received a PhD from UCLA, working on the so-called Ming Gap, a 300 year interval when China blocked exports of ceramics. A production boom across Southeast Asia resulted; Brown's analysis of ceramics recovered from shipwrecks of the period "revolutionized the understanding of trade patterns in the region," according to colleagues cited in the Los Angeles Times . Brown, Roxanna M. The Ming Gap and Shipwreck: Ceramics in Southeast Asia. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 2004. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62126045&referer=brief_results WorldCat] ]

She subsequently became involved in the investigation of the smuggling of art objects from Thailand to the United States, assisted U.S. Government agents. However, she was herself implicated in possible authentication of stolen objects, based on material found during 2002 raids on Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, Ca., the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, Ca. and the Mingei Museum in San Diego., She was arrested for alleged wire fraud discovered upon arrival in the US at Seattle on May 9, 2008 for a conference; she was found dead in her cell on May 14, 2008 of a perforated ulcer "Scholar of Asian Art Is Found Dead in U.S. Detention Center" by Marcia Ann Overland "Chronicle of Higher Education", May 14, 2008 [http://chronicle.com/news/article/?id=4489 article] ] ,

The question of her actual involvement in the smugggling ring, the justification for her arrest, and her lack of medical attention after it, has been discussed in a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times. "A scholar's journey leads through war, addiction and injury to arrest. By Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2008 [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-roxanna11-2008sep11,0,4690964.story pt.1] ] , "Her career revived, scholar turns tipster" By Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times Staff September 12, 2008 [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-roxanna12-2008sep12,0,5477398.story pt.2] ] , "Once an aid in a federal probe, antiquities scholar becomes a key target" Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2008 [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-roxanna13-2008sep13,0,6263832.story pt.3] ] ]

She was author of a number of academic books on the subject. Among the ones that established her early reputation are:
* Brown, Roxanna M. The Ceramics of South-East Asia: Their Dating and Identification. Oxford in Asia studies in ceramics. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1977.
* Brown, Roxanna M. "Guangdong Ceramics from Butuan and Other Philippine Sites: An Exhibition Catalogue." Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines: The Society, 1989.
* Brown, Roxanna. "Ceramic Excavations in the Philippines" A Talk Given to the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society. Singapore: Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, 1972.
* Brown, Roxanna M. "Legend and Reality: Early Ceramics from South-East Asia." Exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, from January 17 Until February 26, 1978. Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum, 1978.
*Brown, Roxanna M. The Legacy of Phra Ruang: An Exhibition of Thai Ceramics and of Ancient Pottery from Ban Chieng, Wednesday, 12th June-Wednesday, 26th June 1974. London: Bluett & Sons, 1974.Among her later works are:
*Brown, Roxanna M., and Sten Sjostrand. Maritime Archaeology and Shipwreck Ceramics in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Published on the occasion of the exhibition Malaysian Maritime Archaeology by Dept. of Museums & Antiquities in collaboration with Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd, 2001.
*Brown, Roxanna M., and Sten Sjostrand. Turiang: A Fourteenth-Century Shipwreck in Southeast Asian Waters. Pasadena, CA: Pacific Asia Museum, 2000. ISBN 9781877921179

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