Page 73 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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delicated (sic.) bronze in a cardboard box only kindly make inquiry. C. T. Loo.” 115 Loo

notified Tomita that his insurance company would make a report of the accident. Loo

further informed Tomita of the cause of the damage, “…this bronze has been sent over

here in a small cardboard and from what I can see, the box has been knocked against

some heavy cases and crashed the bronze inside.” 116 The insurance company was of the

opinion that the museum should be liable in view of the way it was packed for shipment

to Loo. 117 After a few months of negotiation among Loo, the museum, and the insurance

company, Loo informed Tomita that he finally obtain the indemnity for the amount of

$3,000 from the insurance company. 118

Offer Letter

Once the prospective buyer expressed a further interest, or inquired about the price, C.

T. Loo would issue an offer letter, which included the name of the items being offered,

sometimes, their inventory identification numbers, and their prices (Fig.19). For special

115 C. T. Loo to K. Tomita, May 15, 1941, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947,
AAOA-MFA.
116 C. T. Loo to K. Tomita, May 16, 1941, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947,
AAOA-MFA.
117
Mr. Baker to K.Tomita, July 10, 1941, Toplis and Harding Incorporated International
Adjusters and Surveyors, file No. G. 1838-B, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947,
AAOA-MFA.
118 C. T. Loo to K. Tomita, September 24, 1941, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947,
AAOA-MFA. Later Loo ingeniously offered the damaged bronze vessel again to the
MFA at a reduced price. He stated, “And in order to encourage your Committee, we
would accept a reduction of $2000, which would be net 5000, for your Museum, if you
still wish to have it. This special quotation is only for your Museum because once
repaired I do think that we will be able to sell it at 7000.” (C. T. Loo to K. Tomita,
September 24, 1941, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947, AAOA-MFA.) On the
museum side, they wanted to make sure that before they recommended the bronze again
to the Committee the insurance company would not collect from the Museum the amount
of insurance that Loo received from the insurance company.