Plumer, James M.

James Marshall Plumer was born on July 10, 1899, at Newton Centre, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University (B.A., 1921; M.A., 1937). From 1923 to 1937, he served in China as a member of the staff of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. On periodic leaves, Plumer also held an appointment as assistant and tutor in Chinese language at Harvard. He also served as secretary of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1929-1930. In 1935, during another leave, Plumer was appointed lecturer on Far Eastern Art at the University of Michigan, where he taught for twenty-five years, eventually holding the rank of Professor of Far Eastern Art.

Plumer contributed numerous articles to scholarly journals in the field of Far Eastern Art, and was editor (1952-1958) of the Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin . He also completed and edited Langdon Warner's book, Japanese Sculpture of the Tempyo Period .

James Plumer died June 15, 1960.

From the guide to the James M. Plumer papers, 1921-1958, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)