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photograph, an 18-inch high celadon Guanyin statue was shown in Mr. and Mrs. Ira

Haupt’s apartment in New York (Fig.59). 416 The report highlighted Mrs. Haupt’s tasteful

flower arrangement that accompanied the Guanyin statue, “Mrs. Haupt always keeps

fresh sprays of the wild orchids which she and her banker-husband raise as a hobby, their

pinkish-tan tones and jagged, asymmetric lines a complement to the pale greenish

celadon glaze and intricate form of the statue.” (A.B.L. 1947, 38) In addition, the report’s

statement that the statue was “probably for a private palace altar” (A.B.L. 1947, 37)

suggests the spiritual aspect in Mrs. Haupt’s display of the statue of Guanyin, the Chinese

Buddhist deity who was closely associated with female worshippers and patrons in

China. 417

Chinese Art Work by An American Woman

Though C. T. Loo was known primarily as a dealer of ancient Chinese art, in the

1940s he promoted contemporary “Chinese art” works by Wilma Prezzi, an American

female oil painter of Chinese antiquities. In the 1945 exhibition at the De Young

Memorial Museum in San Francisco, some of the objects Wilma Prezzi painted came

from Loo’s collection. In the 1947 exhibition of Prezzi’s oil paintings of ancient Chinese

art in New York, Loo served as her painting model supplier and a member of the art and

exhibits committee.

416 The Guanyin statue is comparable to the one in Loo’s 1946 catalogue: K’wan-yin
Celadon Sung 17 ¾ inches (C. T. Loo and Company 1946, Cat. no. 11, pl. III).
417 Guanyin is derived from the Avalokitasvara or Bodhisattva of Compassion. It has
been noted that before and during the Tang dynasty, Guanyin was depicted as an Indian
prince, whose masculinity was indicated by the moustache (Yu 1994, 151). After the
Tang dynasty, the Guanyin became gradually feminized and indigenized, and assumed
such roles as child-giving female deity.