Page 46 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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States by way of Shanghai to Vancouver and will be pleased to see you again and show

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you the few things secured during my stay in (Pekin?).”
Loo’s objects came from a variety of sources, but the major one was China. The

impressive volume and quality of the objects that Loo acquired owed largely to a

fortuitous environment for art dealers. The fall of the Qing Empire in 1911, and the

constant domestic and international upheavals following the establishment the Republic

resulted in the breakup and world-wide dispersal of some of the most important imperial

and private collections. A vast amount of high-quality antiquities suddenly became

available in the market.

The objects Loo acquired often had illustrious pedigree. The velvet wall hanging that

Charles Lang Freer purchased from Loo, for example, was reportedly stolen from an

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imperial palace in 1913. The painting, Composing Poetry beneath Pine Trees under a

Cliff, attributed to the Song painter Ma Hezhi, was in the collection of Prince Gong

before it came to Loo’s hand (Kwen 1916, Cat. no. 25) (Fig.5). The black jade scepter

(Sackler 1943.50.59) that Grenville L. Winthrop acquired from Loo in 1935 was in the

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collection of Wu Dacheng, the renowned jade collector and connoisseur in China. The

Buddhist bronze altar (MFA 22.407), recognized as the finest example of the Sui dynasty,

34 C. T. Loo to P. J. Sachs, August 20, 1917, folder: Loo T.C. Dealer, Paul J. Sachs files,
HUAMA.
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The imperial palace refers to Jehol Palace.C.L. Freer’s purchase voucher, December
17, 1915, CLF-FGA.
36 Purchases from C. T. Loo, G. L.Winthrop account book, January 1, 1935, HUAMA.