An eight-lobed bowl with a gently scalloped rim, integral near-hemispherical foot, flower and leaf design in pierced openwork all over, with carved detail, grey nephrite jade, Mughal empire, 18th century

An bowl of generally circular but gently eight-lobed form with a lightly scalloped rim and with an integral, near-hemispherical foot. Fashioned from a single piece of grey nephrite jade, the bowl and foot have been extensively pierced in a flower and leaf design, with additional carved detail and narrow horizontal bands around the rim and the base as well as narrow vertical bands at the junction between the lobes. In the bottom of the bowl, corresponding to the junction with the foot, there is a large, multi-petalled flower. There is a significant crack, possibly of natural origin, towards the base and spanning one full lobe and half of each of the two adjoining lobes.

W. H. Cope Bequest

This bowl was acquired by W. H. Cope Esq. who valued it at £75-12-0. He subsequently bequeathed it to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1903. A label on the base states: Hamilton Palace no. 596

William Henry Cope Esq was considered an authority on ancient ecclesiastical stained glass and on old Plymouth china. He was also an important collector of china, jade and old Venetian and German glass, acquiring many of his pieces from sales of well-known collections such as the Beckford, the Bernal, the Guthrie, the Magniac and the Wells.
He became an Associate of the British Archaeological Association in 1863 and was elected to the BAA council in 1871 and regularly contributed to discussions on a broad range of subjects, often taking along objects from his own collections.
In 1880, Mr. Cope published the first of his articles, on the subject of jade, for the Journal of the BAA. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 1st July 1886 and was elected Vice-President of the BAA in June 1889, a post he continued to hold until his death in 1903.

This bowl with a high foot has been made from a single piece of nephrite jade. It was produced within the Mughal empire, probably in the 18th century. It was bequeathed to the museum by W.H. Cope, a member of the British Archaeological Association who was also an important collector of jade and other hardstone objects.

731-1903