Page 70 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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(yet?), but they are so rare and great as art. I will be happy to show them to you when I

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will be in New York; they are in the storage unpacked.” In the transaction of the
Buddhist stele (MFA 23.120), Loo informed the curator J.E. Lodge, “I am reserving them

for you: I will not speak or send photos to any one unless I hear from you not interested

on them. In case should you wish to try to secure I will ship them directly to you as we

have done with the shrine in order that nobody either here or in the States would have

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know of their existence.” (Fig. 14a) In the transaction of a bronze figure (WAM

1941.47), Loo informed the WAM director Charles Sawyer that it was secured by his

firm “two or three months after its discovery and has never been owned by any collector

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before”.

When the prospective buyers showed a further interest, Loo often had the objects

delivered to them. This method allowed his clients to develop an intimate relationship

with the object and to harmonize the object with their own space. This technique spoke

to Loo’s customers like John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who stated, “…it often takes time to

come to know and fully appreciate a great work of art. By living with it over a period of

time you gradually discover that you were right to put your faith in a respected adviser’s

quicker perception” (Washburn 1970, 7). For private collectors, Loo had objects

delivered to their homes or offices. Loo’s offer of two pieces of bronzes to Mrs. and Mrs.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. provides an extreme example. Loo allowed them to take two

106 Undated, prior to November 17, 1930, C. T. Loo to JDR Jr. folder 1370, C. T. Loo
1916-1949, box 137, OMR-RAC
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C. T. Loo to J.E. Lodge, August 23, 1922, folder: Lai-Yuan Co., box: Unofficial
Correspondence L, 1910-1922, AAOA-MFA.
108 C. T. Loo to C. Sawyer, November 17, 1941, WAMA.