Page 75 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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wrote to Freer to offer two objects, “I bought those 2 pieces with my personal money and

will give those to you at the price I paid-they are very cheap…” 121 In the transaction for a

stone statue of a winged chimera (RISD 43.592), Loo quoted $6,000 with reference to the

market value of the other one in the pair. 122 “It originally belonged to a pair which came

to Paris about twenty years ago; one of them had the circular base removed because it

was originally damaged and was sold to Mr. Octave Homberg, illustrated in Siren’s book,

Plate XIII. It was then sold in auction around 1933-1934 and was bought by Edouard

123
Lacarde for 75,000 francs equaling, at that time, around 5000 U.S. dollars.” Loo’s

buyers were also aware of market conditions. In response to Loo’s quote for a pair of

Ming porcelain statues at $1,800, John D. Rockefeller Jr. made a counteroffer of $ 1,000

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on the basis that he bought in 1929 from Loo a larger figure of similar type for $570.
Loo explained, “…unfortunately, it is so difficult to-day to get anything of this type and,

from what I can judge by the news from England, China and everywhere, the value of

porcelains-after being very low during the last few years-is now going up every day. In

fact, there is no possibility to discover any porcelain on the market in China, and in

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England, the prices are so much higher than before the war.”

The price that Loo placed on his merchandises was affected by the value of American

currency and the economy situation in the U.S. In his negotiation with the WAM over

121
C. T. Loo to C.L. Freer, July 16, 1916, CLFP-FGA.
122 The listed price is $3,000 (C. T. Loo and Company 1941, Price-list of illustrated
Catalogue of Chinese Arts).
123 C. T. Loo to RISD, January 19, 1944, folder, C. T. Loo & Co., 1920-1944, RISDA.
124
JDR Jr. to C. T. Loo, March 8, 1945, folder 106, C. T. Loo 1945-1951, box 11, OMR-
RAC.
125 C. T. Loo to JDR Jr., March 9, 1945, folder 106, C. T. Loo 1945-1951, box 11, OMR-
RAC.