 He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1911.. 

Bigelow's enthusiasm for the elite male camaraderie he enjoyed in Japan is reflected in the nature of these collections.Where Parisian collections emphasized Japanese domestic objects, including women's kimonos and allied textiles, modern decorated ceramics, and prints associated with the pleasure quarters famed for their bawdy entertainments and stylized forms of prostitution, the Boston collectors focused on the elite all-male aspects of Japanese society