Page 153 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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Exhibition of Sung Wares, for example, included Loo’s account of the possible function

of some exhibits, “A tall vase with a narrow opening was made for holding a single

branch of apple blossoms, explained Mr. Loo, and a shallow bowl, its shape suggesting a

flower, was used for bulbs.” 321 Chineseness was used as a selling point in the 1941

catalogue of the exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art. One piece, for instance, was

described as, “A flexible gold wire, attached to the leaf and flower parts, causes them to

quiver naturalistically as the wearer moves. Jewelry that quivers in this way is a typical

Chinese idea. The style was very popular in China in ancient times, and still is.” (Loo

1941b, Cat. no. 115)

Loo often provided a seemingly authentic native setting for his objects on display. An

Art News article commented on Loo’s 1916 exhibition, “These are exceptionally well

displayed-the porcelains, potteries, and small bronzes in cabinets whose fronts are old

lacquered screens, in themselves worthy of close study.” 322 The installation view of the

1947 exhibition of Song ceramics at Loo’s gallery showed that in addition to the ceramics

on display in the cases, there were two bird-and-flower paintings on two sides of the

gallery wall and antique Chinese furniture (Fig. 49). Like props in a theatre, the paintings

and furniture, though not made in the Song dynasty, served to create an illusion of an

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authentic Chinese room for the Song ceramics on display.

321 “Rare Chinese Art on Display Today,” New York Times, March 29, 1947.
322 “Early Chinese Rarities,” American Art News, May 6, 1916, 5.
323 As Benjamin march observed, in the late 1920s there emerged a trend to contextualize
East Asian works of art by placing them in a setting that evoked their original
environment. March noted that the Pennsylvanian Museum and Dayton Art Institute had
secured authentic Chinese interiors to be installed in their new buildings as settings for
parts of their Oriental exhibitions (March 1929, 12). By 1932, the Brooklyn Museum had