7. Gourd-shaped wall basket. Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912), 19th century. Bamboo (madake) with rattan accents, H. (with handle) 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm), W. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm). Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.2078)
8. Cup in the shape of a magnolia blossom. China, Ming dynasty (1368– 1644), early 17th century. Rhinoceros horn, H. 4 in. (10.2 cm); wood base, H. 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm). Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1908 (08.212.5)
collecting habits and his eye for technical virtuosity would have found great favor with J. Pierpont Morgan, a trustee since 1888 and the Museum’s president from 1904 until his death, in 1913. It was Morgan who presided over the expansion of the Museum onto Fifth Avenue, first with Richard Morris Hunt’s grand entrance hall, completed in 1902, and then with the extension of the building along four blocks of Fifth Avenue by architects McKim, Mead and White. Morgan was the personification of America’s new wealth, which gave the country the means to dominate the art market in the early twentieth century. Yet he was also a discerning buyer with a special love for fine craftsmanship in every culture he encountered, from a Chinese rhinoceros-horn cup, one of a dozen he donated in 1908 (fig. 8), to the sumptuous Coromandel lacquer screen prominently displayed on the balcony of the Museum’s new Great Hall (fig. 9). Given to acquiring entire art collections, Morgan missed one remarkable opportunity that would have transformed the course of Asian art studies in the West early in its evolution. After
7