This man collects everything from first- edition books to Shaker furniture to Japanese ceramics.

One of the collections will be on display at Penn State.

Massachusetts businessman Carl A. Weyerhaeuser amassed more than 300 ceramic pieces from leading Japanese potters during the early 1970s, and 118 pieces of his collection will be exhibited at the Palmer Museum of Art this semester.

Shaped with a Passion: The Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Collection of Japanese Ceramics of the 1970s, will be on display starting tomorrow and will run through Dec. 1.

Robin Seymour, the museum's coordinator of public relations, said Weyerhaeuser has an eclectic taste and an extreme passion for the arts. The title of the exhibit shows his obsession with collecting things, which started when he was a college student.

"The title reflects the level of enthusiasm behind Carl Weyerhaeuser's interest in Japanese culture, which came to its fullest fruition during the early 1970s in the acquisition of the ceramics on view in the exhibition," said Patrick McGrady, the museum's Charles V. Hallman curator.

The exhibit mainly consists of pieces related to the Japanese tea ceremony, such as water collectors and teacups. Other items, such as bowls and decoration pieces, are also on display.

"Even though the pieces are used for conventional daily activities, they are extremely beautiful and hold aesthetic values for many people," Seymour said.

The Shaped with a Passion exhibit coincides with the opening of the William Hall Gallery, which will be the largest gallery in the museum.

"William Hall, the first director of the museum, adored ceramics. So it was only appropriate and timely for us to put the gallery opening and the exhibit at the same time to honor him," she said.

It had been at least 20 years since the museum last had a Japanese ceramics exhibit, said Ron Hand, the museum's exhibition designer.

For this exhibit, special additions are being made to authenticate the experience. A tokonoma -- an alcove that is prominent in Japanese teahouse architecture -- will be added to the exhibition wall.

"It makes the experience so much fuller for the viewer," Seymour said.

Pictures of the artists and the places where they created the pieces hang on the wall beside the respective ceramics. From the photographs, the viewer can see that the potters differed in age, experience and lifestyle.

Hand also said exhibits such as this one take an immense amount of time to prepare. There is lighting, placement and many other aspects to be considered.

The two pieces on display by Hamada Shoji, a leading potter in Japan, are especially of interest to Hand. He said Hamada went through years of training to be a potter.

"It has taken him 40 years to forget his teachings. You just do it intuitively; you want to be one with the clay. It is such an expression of nature," he said.

A tea ceremony will take place in conjunction with the exhibit at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Tea master Drew Hanson will present the ceremony with authentic Japanese tea and ceramics.

Registration forms for the ceremony are due by Friday to the Palmer Museum. For more information, contact Seymour at 865-7672.