Page 231 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

231

inches (Fig. 26). 444 In 1917 Loo informed J.E. Lodge of the availability of two large stone

heads about 33 inches high and 27 inches wide, “They look very grand as I have the

marble stands made for them now. The total height is about 50 inches. They are really the

445
largest heads that have ever come out from China.” Loo’s stagecraft was also
demonstrated in his instruction to the RISD director G. Washburn on how to

appropriately install a stone sculpture piece about eleven to twelve feet in height and

weighing about 9 tons, reportedly coming from the vicinity of Yungang. Loo noted, “the

photograph does not do justice to the beauty of this stella (sic) because it was taken too

high. A figure of this size ought to be lift up at least four or five feet from the ground,

446
then one can have a proper idea of its beauty”.

Loo’s dramaturgy was also manifested in his interpretative approach to grouping of

objects in the display. The objects that came to Loo’s hand had been taken out of their

original sites and contexts, or separated from other objects in their original group. In a

sense, they were “dead”. Loo faced the task of how to “revive” and make sense of them.

One effective way was to create new display contexts and new narratives by meaningful

groupings. In Loo’s 1941-2 sale catalogue, a pair of terra cotta figures, dated to the Wei

dynasty, were placed to flank a larger Tang terra cotta figure. This arrangement suggested

that three figures with their postures and open arms were engaged in a lively dance (C. T.

Loo and Company 1941a, Cat. no. 421-2) (Fig. 81). The constructed nature of Loo’s

444 Parnassus (January 1939):1.
445
C. T. Loo to J.E. Lodge, October 6, and12, 1917, folder: Lai-Yuan Co., box:
Unofficial Correspondence L, 1910-1922, AAOA-MFA.
446 C. T. Loo to G. Washburn, March 9, 1949, C. T. Loo & Co. folder 1945-1949,
RISDA.