Page 146 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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today is practically out of the question except for a few experts who less and less

frequently differ among themselves.” 301

The study of ancient bronzes was an important discipline in China. As the Chinese

connoisseur/collector Duanfang noted in the preface to his bronze catalogue Tao zhai ji

jin lu, bronzes were important historical records because they preserved early writings

that rarely survived in other forms or media. He distinguished two approaches in the

study of bronzes. One was to look at bronzes as dao (path, principle) because the study of

bronzes, especially their inscriptions, leads to an understanding of history and rituals. The

other approach was to treat bronzes as qi (objects), or wan wu (playthings) for the eye.

The 1924 catalogue Bronzes antiques de la Chine appartenant à C. T. Loo et cie not

only marked the beginning of Loo’s introduction of Chinese-style bronzes scholarship to

the West, but also reflected his subtle negotiation of Westernness/Chineseness,

text/image, context/form in his dealing in ancient bronzes. On the one hand, the

provenance of the collection as well as the background and method of the compilers of

this catalogue played on Chinese contexts. The bronze collection included in the

catalogue was reportedly from the family of the late Liu Kun-Yi, a former Viceroy in

China. 302 The major text of the catalogue was written by the well-known Chinese bronze

connoisseur Tch’ou Tö-yi, who had helped catalogue the Chinese collector Duanfang’s

famous bronze collection. Tch’ou’s Chinese-style connoisseurship paid great attention to

textual evidence from ancient literature, inscriptions, and the function of the bronzes.

Take the first catalogue entry, for example, which is based on the historical text that

301 “Art Notes: Antique Art from China,” New York Times, December 7, 1924.
302 “Loo Brings Bronzes Buried for Ages,” Art News, November 29, 1924.