Page 53 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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A typical inventory card as the one above has three parts. The first part, located above

the card’s first red horizontal line, consists of the following information: an identification

number, the date possibly when the inventory was made, its acquisition price, the location

of its source, its publication history, and sometimes, repair information. The

identification number for this bronze vessel is “50045”. Some objects were given a

combination of numbers and letters to indicate their special status. The objects numbered

as LD-6/003 to LD-7, for example, came from Jean-Pierre Dubosc in April 1946, August

and November 1947. “Inv.Oct-6-36” in this card indicates that the bronze phoenix vessel

may have been inventoried on October 6, 1936. Its buy-in price was possibly “Mex $

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axppp”, an encoded number valued in Mexican dollar. “41 cat. #74” indicates that it

was published as no. 74 object in Loo’s 1941 catalogue, Exhibition of Chinese Arts: New

York. Special Sale (C. T. Loo and Company 1942). The second part contains the

information about the object’s properties, including its title, a brief description of its

formal elements, its age and dimensions. Sometimes an image is attached. The inventory

card for the bronze vessel, for instance, contains a descriptive title and its Chinese name

(tsu), its shape, patina, and inscription, as well its period and height. At the lower left

corner on the back of the inventory card is a small photograph of the vessel with its

identification number and catalogue number. Once the basic information is filled in the

first two parts, the object is ready to enter the promotional and sale stages. The third part

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According to C.W. Bishop, the so-called Mexican dollar is the Chinese silver dollar,
which bears a fluctuating rate to American dollar based upon a gold standard.( C.W.
Bishop to J. E. Lodge, May 21, 1927, box 7 of 22, F/S Field Expedition Records, 1914,
1923-42, SI)