Page 78 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the MFA usually made their payment for each purchase by

cash or check. Grenville L. Winthrop had an account in Loo’s firm. He made a monthly

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deposit, which was put to his credit. Any purchase he made was recorded as balance.

In Loo’s business, the transaction of prominent objects often involved a large sum. To

facilitate the sale, Loo was flexible in the method of payment. In the transaction of the

relief panels of Tang horses, Loo reached an agreement with the UPM that “…the

museum would purchase a Chinese bronze vessel for US $20,000 with an understanding

to leave the two horses unsold, giving the museum an option to until 1 April 1921 of

purchasing the two Sacred Chinese Horses…for the sum of US $150,000” (Zhou 2001,

44) (Fig. 20 a, b). This extended deadline for payment allowed the museum to raise

funds for the purchase. According to Zhou Xiuqing, the purchase was completed in three

payments in December 1920, and January and March 1921 (Zhou 2001, 44). Loo’s

business often involved international monetary transfer. The WAM’s payment for the

purchase of the Buddhist stele (WAM 1934.34), for example, was cabled from the U.S. to

Loo’s credit at the Guaranty Trust Paris (Fig. 21). 133

In Loo’s dealing with Rockefeller and Winthrop, the final payments usually included

the agreed price plus tax. 134 The invoice Loo sent to Rockefeller showed the inclusion of

the sale tax. “One porcelain statue of an African, wearing a short skirt in three colors.

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For detail see Chapter Two, pp.91-2.
133 Benjamin H. Stone to C. T. Loo, September 27, 1934, WAMA.
134 Dealers could bypass the tax in their international operation. In the transaction of a
pair of Kangxi porcelain qilins between Frank Partridge, Inc and JDR Jr, it was noted that
“No tax to Partridge as they came from London shop (although accounting dept. has to
pay tax direct to government here).” (Frank Partridge, Inc. to JDR Jr., December 12,
1949, binder (unnamed with JDR’s Chinese porcelain purchase vouchers), box 159,
OMR-RAC)