Page 173 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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when he was acutely aware of mortality due to his prolonged illness and the deaths in the

family (Pyne 1996, 77). 363 Freer believed that ancient Chinese jade, a symbol of

permanence and longevity, possessed magical healing properties, as his friend Agnes

Meyer observed, “When desperately ill at the end of his life, ‘he would cling to certain

pieces of jade with deep satisfaction and with an almost religious faith in its comforting

and restorative powers.’” (Pyne 1996, 88, quoted from Meyer 1970, 20) In this light,

Freer’s fascination with Chinese archaic jades can be viewed as a metaphor for ancient

364
Chinese art as a remedy for the diseased modern West.

Another strategy Loo employed was to merchandise the spiritual and ritualistic

365
elements in Chinese art. The introduction to the catalogue of Loo’s 1940 exhibition of

ancient ritual bronzes began with a highly evocative scene of worship in China, “Fragrant

vapors rise, even in these days of turmoil, from countless altars in China.” (Plumer 1940)

It is noticeable that prominent American collectors such as Stewart Gardner, Abby

363 Other sources of Freer’s archaic jade collection include K. T. Wong, Seaouku Yue of
Poh Yuen Tsar, Tonying, and Yamanaka & Co. (C. L .Freer purchase voucher, CLFP-
FGA).
364 According to Holly Edwards, Orientalism in America was motivated by similar
dynamics: “Orientalism of this sort was therapy for an America in transit, for the country
was fast becoming industrialized, urban, and very complicated.” (Edwards 2000, 23)
365
Art and beauty in the past were perceived as a spiritual force by John D. Rockefeller,
Jr. He remarked at the dedication of the Cloisters devoted to the art and architecture of
medieval Europe ,“If what has been created here helps to interpret beauty as one of the
great spiritual and inspirational forces of life, having the power to transform drab duty
into radiant living; if those who come under the influence of this place go out to face life
with new courage and restored faith because of the peace, the calm, the loveliness they
have found here; if the many how thirst for beauty are refreshed and gladdened as they
drink deeply from this well of beauty, those who have built here will not have built in
vain.” (Altman 2006, 102, quoted from Tischer 1996, 2)