(c) 2016 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Quincy Adams Shaw

Boston, 1826 - 1908

BiographyQuincy Adams Shaw named for his father's friend, John Quincy Adams, was a Boston merchant (Calumet & Hecla Copper Mines), philanthropist and art collector.

Shaw's collection included Italian Renaissance sculptures, Japanese art and paintings, pastels and etchings by Jean François Millet.
In addition to paintings, pastels and drawings by Jean François Millet, Shaw collected Renaissance sculpture and Japanese art.

Shaw donated works attributed works attributed to Donatello, Jean-François Millet, Corot’s to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Shaw bequeathed his Japanese art collection to the Royal Japanese Museum. The collection included g gold raquer writing cases, inros, ornamental bags, gold lacquer boxes, incense boxes, metal art objects and ancient pottery from the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Shaw married the Pauline Agassiz Shaw (1841-1917) in 1860 she was the daughter of his business partner and Swiss scientist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (1807-1873).
They had five children: Louis Agassiz, Pauline, Marian Shaw Haughton, Quincy Adams and Robert Gould, 2nd.

Frick Collection: Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

Terms