Page 86 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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Catalogue of Ancient and Genuine Chinese Paintings in 1916 and offered the entire

collection to Freer on approval.

When Loo established his firm in America in the mid-1910s, he was acutely aware of

his status in comparison with more established dealers. Before 1929, Loo did not have

much success in his business with John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In contrast, Duveen Brothers,

Inc. and Parish-Watson & Co, Inc, were Rockefeller’s major suppliers of Chinese

ceramics. Duveen Brothers’ sale of the Morgan collection to Rockefeller in 1915, for

instance, were at the price of $1,657,234.50. 158 In 1929, while C. T. Loo made one sale of

a group of Ming ceramics to Rockefeller with a total value of $7,000, 159 Parish-Watson &

Co, Inc. made three sales of Ming and Qing ceramics with a total value of $269,000. 160 It

is no surprise that in his negotiation with Rockefeller Loo referred to the Duveen

Brothers and Watson with both acrimony and envy, “…I must ask you generously to see

if you could change your offer and please think that if this vase was owned either by

Duveen Bros. or Mr. Watson they will never sell it unless they got the proper price.” 161

Loo’s advertisement in the January 1939 issue of Parnassus was a visual statement of

Loo’s ambition to outdo his rivals. Loo’s full-page advertisement with an impressive

158
Joseph Duveen and Ben Duveen to JDR Jr., April 13, 1915, folder 1339, Duveen-
Chinese Porcelains from Morgan Collection, 1915-1916, box 134, OMR-RAC.
159 C. T. Loo to JDR Jr., December 18, 1929, binder, unnamed with JDR’s Chinese
porcelain purchase vouchers), box 159, OMR-RAC.
160
Voucher of Parish-Watson & Co. Inc to JDR, January 2/May 17/November 26, 1929,
binder, unnamed with JDR’s Chinese porcelain purchase vouchers, box 159, OMR-RAC.
161 C. T. Loo to JDR, November 27, 1932, folder 1370, C. T. Loo 1916-1949, box 137,
OMR-RAC.