SHANG RUI (1634-CIRCA 1724)

This set of four paintings was a gift to General William Worton by the Officers' Moral Endeavor Association in Beijing in 1946. William Worton (1897-1973) served in China for ten years in the 1920s and 1930s as a Marine officer, and was assigned to the Far East Section of the Office of Naval Intelligence, conducting the first American espionage operations against Japan. He returned to the USA after the War and was appointed chief of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1949.