The art of ceramics was not considered a distinct area of study at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery until 1968, when Far Eastern ceramics were studied by Josephine H. Knapp and later by John Alexander Pope. Before 1968, ceramics were handled within the geographically defined curatorial areas from which they came (e.g., Curatorial - Chinese Art, Curatorial - Japanese Art, Curatorial - Near Eastern Art). Ceramics were given official curatorial status in 1989, when the Museum Specialist, Ceramics title was changed to Assistant Curator, Ceramics. Curatorial - Ceramics reports to a Curatorial Chair or Chief Curator, which was established in 1998.

Knapp served as Research Assistant, Far Eastern Ceramics, 1968-1984, and Museum Specialist, Ceramics, 1984-1986. Pope retired as Secretary in order to continue his research of Far Eastern Ceramics and did so as Research Curator from 1971 to 1982. Louise Allison Cort was hired as Museum Specialist, Ceramics in 1985 and held the position until 1989, when she was given the new title Assistant Curator, Ceramics. Cort later became Associate Curator, Ceramics, 1989-1994, Associate Curator, Ceramics, 1994-1995, and Curator, Ceramics, 1995- .

Curatorial - Ceramics conducts research; publishes; lectures; studies and translates texts, seals, and artifacts; and provides expert opinions on provenance, age, and quality of the Freer/Sackler collections' ceramics. Research and lectures take place both in these galleries and in other research sites in this country and abroad.