Oil Lamp & Cover on Fixed Stand, 18th/19th century, 7 1/2 inches wide; Courtesy Becky MacGuire

Zoom Webinar
Four Centuries of Blue & White
Wednesday, September 11 at 5pm EDT

There’s still time to join us for a special webinar with noted decorative arts expert Becky MacGuire, author of Four Centuries of Blue & White: The Frelinghuysen Collection of Chinese & Japanese Export Porcelain tomorrow afternoon!

Ms. MacGuire will delve into the evolving commercial and cultural exchanges between East and West, with a particular focus on the collection’s rare, unusual and little-studied material. The extraordinary Frelinghuysen collection, assembled carefully over 50 years, features an exceptionally wide array of Asian blue and white export porcelain—that most ubiquitous and influential of all ceramics. Ranging from rarities made at the height of the Ming dynasty, when Europeans first sailed to Asia, to commissions executed for the Thai royal court in the last decades of the Qing dynasty, the collection goes beyond iconic export classics to include pieces made for markets from Japan to the Islamic world. An intriguing counterpoint is provided by a full complement of Japanese export.

Moderated by Lark Mason, Jr., this engaging discussion will be held over Zoom, so be sure to sign up by clicking here.

Participant’s Biographies:

Becky MacGuire was the longtime senior specialist in Chinese export art at Christie’s and director of the firm’s New York Exceptional Sale. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with honors in art history, Ms. MacGuire completed the program of the Study Centre for the Fine and Decorative Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum. A frequent lecturer, she was an original appraiser on “The Antiques Roadshow” and a founding partner of The Chinese Porcelain Company. Ms. MacGuire is the author of Four Centuries of Blue & White: The Frelinghuysen Collection of Chinese & Japanese Export Porcelain, published by Paul Holberton Books (October 2023).

Lark Mason, Jr., founder and CEO of iGavel Auctions, is renowned for his regular appearances on “The Antiques Roadshow” and his expertise in Chinese art. He established Lark Mason Associates, an auction house with locations in New Braunfels, Texas, and New York City, specializing in Asian, ethnographic, and ancient works of art.  Mason’s career includes serving as a General Appraiser from 1979 to 1985, and as a Senior Vice President and specialist in Chinese art at Sotheby’s from 1985 to 2003, where he also directed online auctions for Sothebys.com from 2000 to 2003. Additionally, he was a consulting curator at the Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas from 2003 to 2009. He is a member of the Asia Week New York Planning Committee.