A white jade 'magnolia' cup, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period

Collection of William H. Moore (1914-2009).

Ninety Jades for 90 Years, Marchant, London, 2015, cat. no. 77.

Compare a small number of cups of related magnolia form: one from the collection of C. P. Lin, was included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition of Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1983, cat. no. 215; another from the Florence and Herbert Irving Gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, sold in these rooms, 14th September 2019, lot 1211; and another from the collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 209, lot 106.

A well renowned lawyer and financier, William Henry Moore (1848-1923) came to prominence as one of the creators of the mass conglomerate United States Steel, as well as a number of other high profile companies, from the First National Bank to the National Biscuit Company ('Nabisco'). Together with his wife Ada Small Moore (1858-1955), ‘Judge’ – as he was known – amassed a sizable and important collection of world art including many fine Chinese pieces, many of which were bequeathed to the Yale University Art Gallery upon Ada's death in 1955.