Jean-Baptiste Clais (柯诣) is a senior curator in theDepartment of Decorative Arts at the Musée du Louvre (文物保管员、策展人), where he oversees the Asian collections —encompassing China, Japan, India, and arts of globalisation—as well as European porcelains.
Jean-Baptiste Clais
Jean-Baptiste Clais
An ethnologist and art historian, he recently curated the exhibition “A Passion for China: The Adolphe Thiers Collection”, showcasing 19th-century French fascination with Chinese porcelain and decorative arts. Looking ahead, Clais is developing a project exploring the intertwined history of jade across China and India, highlighting cross-cultural exchanges in lapidary traditions.
Prior to his current role, Clais began his Louvre career in the Department of Islamic Art, managing collections of arms and Mughal art. He authored several publications on Mughal decorative arts. He currently research on agates from Gujarat, Chinese Mughal style jades.
He holds an undergraduate degree and museology diploma from the École du Louvre, a master’s in anthropology from Université Paris V René Descartes, the curator diploma from the Institut national du patrimoine and a Political and Social anthropology Ph.D from Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne. He’s a teacher in the Global history masters at Sciences Po Paris. His research bridges ethnography and global art histories, fostering dialogues between Eastern and Western traditions.
