Chinese Ceramics: The Superb Collection of Alan L. and Jacqueline B. Stuart

From the mid 1980s onward, Alan and Jackie Stuart assembled a superb collection of Chinese ceramics ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Including nearly 100 pieces, the collection boasts masterworks from the Tang through the Qing. The Stuarts displayed their collection in the public areas of their former Greenwich, CT, home, the early Chinese ceramics artfully grouped in the foyer, the later porcelains elegantly arrayed in the dining room. They acquired their ceramics from leading dealers and auction houses in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

Born in Manhattan, Alan Lincoln Stuart (1936–2024) grew up in a beautiful art-filled home and a world brimming with renowned museums and cultural institutions which inspired his early interest in art. After graduating from New York’s Ethical Culture Fieldston Schools, Alan completed his bachelor’s degree at Brown University, Providence, RI, majoring in art history. A respected figure in the world of investment and finance, Alan was co-founder of Stuart Brothers, which had a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. After the firm was sold, Alan founded a boutique investment advisory firm that he ran for many years. He also contributed his financial expertise to serve as chairman of the Financial Advisory Board of the Town of Harrison, New York and later, as a member of the Financial Advisory Board of Blue Hill Hospital in Blue Hill, Maine.

Born in upstate New York, Jacqueline Barkan Stuart received a bachelor’s degree at Barnard College of Columbia University and a master’s degree in Public Law and Government at Columbia University. Later, Jackie received a J.D. degree from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and practiced law in the New York office of a major international law firm.

Alan began collecting art while still in college and continued to expand the collection throughout his life. Together with his wife Jackie, they filled their home with art from many different cultures and chronological periods, from ancient to modern, but with a notable focus on Chinese ceramics. Though they collected jointly, Jackie took the lead in assembling the collection of Chinese ceramics. A quick study, she rapidly acquired a specialist’s knowledge, developed a connoisseur’s eye, and led the couple in assembling a surpassing collection.

Alan and Jackie served on the Asian Art Collections Committee of the Harvard Art Museums; in fact, from 2012 until recently, Jackie served as the committee’s chairman.

Most impressive among the Stuarts’ Song-dynasty ceramics are the Ding-ware ewer from the early twelfth century and the similarly dated Jun-ware bowl with sumptuous, robin’s-egg blue glaze; equally impressive are the large, black-glazed jar with vertical white ribs and the small, black-glazed jar with floral decoration in cut-glaze technique.

The early fifteenth-century, Yongle-period charger, with a barbed rim and a floral arabesque on its floor, commands pride of place among the Ming ceramics.

A late seventeenth-century, flat, circular dish beautifully embellished with landscape décor bridges the transition from Ming to Qing-dynasty blue-and-white wares, while a large dish with floral sprays reserved in white on a blue ground perfectly demonstrates the refined aesthetic vision and technical perfection of Yongzheng-period potters.

The exquisite clair-de-lune brush washer represents Kangxi-period monochrome-glazed porcelains at their finest, just as the small pomegranate-form bottle showcases Qianlong-period, celadon-glazed porcelains at their very best.

Among Qing enameled porcelains, the Yongzheng meiping vase with dragon-and-phoenix décor is superb, while the Qianlong-period moon flask with dragon-and-pearl decoration and the hundred-deer jar rank amongst the very finest examples of their types.

Though comparatively numerous during the mid-twentieth century, comprehensive American collections of Chinese ceramics assembled by knowledgeable, discerning collectors are rare today, particularly collections with works that span the chronological range from Neolithic to Qing. Among the few such collections existing today, the Stuart Collection features a superb selection of ceramics not only of the highest quality but of great beauty and importance.

Robert D. Mowry 毛瑞 Alan J. Dworsky, Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus, Harvard Art Museums, and Senior Consultant,

Lot 612. Property from the Stuart Collection. A carved Qingbai foliate bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 21 cm diam., cloth box. Price realised USD 88,900 (Estimate USD 7,000 – USD 10,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2008, no. 4264c.
Stuart Collection, no. 142.

Lot 613. Property from the Stuart Collection. A large Jun bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 19.4 cm diam., cloth box. Price realised USD 63,500 (Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Dr. Marvin L. (1926-2023) and Patricia Gordon Collection, San Francisco.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2009, no. X1668.
Stuart Collection, no. 143.

Literature: J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art: The Collection of Dr. & Mrs. Marvin L. Gordon, New York, 2009, no. 29.

Exhibited: New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art: The Collection of Dr. & Mrs. Marvin L. Gordon, 12 March-4 April 2009.

Lot 614. Property from the Stuart Collection. A rare Ding ewer and cover, Five Dynasties period-Northern Song dynasty (907-1127); 18 cm high., cloth box. Price realised USD 215,900 (Estimate USD 60,000 – USD 80,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2007, no. 4061.

Stuart Collection, no. 141.

Lot 615. Property from the Stuart Collection. A rare large blue and white bracket-lobed 'floral scroll' dish, Yongle period (1403-1425); 38.1 cm diam. Price realised USD 825,600 (Estimate USD 300,000 – USD 500,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: C. T. Loo & Co., New York.
The Property of a Gentleman; Christie's London, 23 October 1967, lot 122 (Spink & Son as agent).
F. Gordon Morrill (1910-2000) Collection.
The F. Gordon Morrill Collection: Chinese and Chinese Export Porcelain; Doyle Galleries, New York, 16 September 2003, lot 82.
Littleton & Hennessy, 2003.
Stuart Collection, no. 130.

Literature: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Exhibition of Ming Blue and White, Philadelphia, 1949, p. 40, no. 40.
Bruce Museum, Flora and Fauna: Themes and Symbols in the Decorative Arts of China, Greenwich, Connecticut (brochure).

Exhibited: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Exhibition of Ming Blue and White, 19 October-4 December 1949; also shown at the Art Institute of Chicago.
San Antonio, San Antonio Museum of Art, Underglaze Decorated Chinese Porcelain 14th-18th Century, 1958.
Greenwich, Connecticut, Bruce Museum, Flora and Fauna: Themes and Symbols in the Decorative Arts of China, 23 June-9 September 2007.

Lot 616. Property from the Stuart Collection. A blue and white 'figural' stem cup, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 13.3 cm diam. Price realised USD 38,100 (Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Baerwald Collection, New York, no. XI/38.
H. F. Parfitt Collection.
Early Chinese Ceramics: The Property of H. F. Parfitt, Esq.; Sotheby's London, 8 February 1946, lot 31.
Francis Brodie (1880-1967) and Enid Lodge Collection, Flore House, Northamptonshire, England, no. B.82.
Oriental Arts, Ltd., New York, 2000.
Stuart Collection, no. 127.

Literature: Oriental Ceramics Society, Ming Blue-and-White Porcelain, London, 1946, p. 11, no. 35.
Oriental Ceramics Society, Chinese Blue and White Porcelain from the 14th to 19th Centuries, London, 1953, no. 120.

Exhibited: London, Oriental Ceramics Society, Ming Blue-and-White Porcelain, 24 October-21 December 1946.
London, Oriental Ceramics Society, Chinese Blue and White Porcelain from the 14th to 19th Centuries, 16 December 1953-23 January 1954.

Lot 617. Property from the Stuart Collection. A blue and white 'Zhou Yanzhi' brush pot, Shunzhi period, circa 1650. The larger 17.8 cm diam, Japanese wood box. Price realised USD 76,200 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Christie's London, 15 June 1998, lot 306.
Stuart Collection, no. 123.

Lot 618. Property from the Stuart Collection. Two blue and white 'Xi Xiang Ji' dishes, Shunzhi period, circa 1650; 18.7 cm diam., cloth box. Price realised USD 83,550 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 50,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The dishes are decorated with scenes from the Xi Xiang Ji (Romance of the Western Chamber), one with Cui Yingying and her maid Hongniang in a landscape, and the other with the scholar Zhang Sheng and attendants. The base of each has an apocryphal Jiajing mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 17 December 1996, lot 91.
Stuart Collection, no. 105

Lot 619. Property from the Stuart Collection. A finely decorated blue and white 'warrior' sleeve vase, Shunzhi period, circa 1650. 47 cm high. Price realised USD 95,250 (Estimate USD 50,000 – USD 80,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Dr. John Pullan (1915-1995) Collection, London.
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1998.
Oriental Arts, Ltd., U.K., 1998.
Stuart Collection, no. 125.

Literature: Spink & Son Ltd., Chinese Blue & White Porcelain from the Pullan Collection, London, 1998, p. 17, no. 18.

Exhibited: London, Spink & Son Ltd., Chinese Blue & White Porcelain from the Pullan Collection, 16-30 November 1998.

Lot 620. Property from the Stuart Collection. A blue and white 'scholars' bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722). 20.3 cm diam. Price realised USD 17,780 (Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The base is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark.

Provenance: Property from a Private San Francisco Collection; Sotheby's New York, 18 September 1996, lot 193.

Stuart Collection, no. 104

Lot 621. Property from the Stuart Collection. A blue and white 'landscape' dish, Kangxi-Yongzheng period (1662-1735). 25.7 cm diam. Price realised USD 22,860 (Estimate USD 7,000 – USD 9,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The base is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark.

Provenance: Spink & Son Ltd., London.
Littleton & Hennessy.
Stuart Collection, no. 136.

Lot 622. Property from the Stuart Collection. A blue and white 'scholar and landscape' brush pot, Shunzhi period, circa 1650; 18 cm high Price realised USD 107,950 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance:  Christie's Hong Kong, 6 November 1997, lot 1059.

Stuart Collection, no. 110.

Lot 623. Property from the Stuart Collection. A rare reserve-decorated blue-ground 'gardenia' dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735). 33 cm diam. Price realised USD 82,550 (Estimate USD 100,000 – USD 150,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Eduardo Dao (1920-2006) Collection, Hong Kong.

Oriental Arts, Ltd., 2000.

Stuart Collection, no. 128.