Page 96 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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Han Gan for $4500 193 . In the same year, “C. T. Loo, acting for Marcel Bing, arranged

the sale of twelve outstanding Chinese antiquities (one Shang dynasty jade ge 戈 and

eleven Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes) to Mr. Freer and the Meyers (F15.102, F15.103,

F15.104, F15.105, F15.106, F15.107, F15.108, F61.20, F61.21, F61.32, F61.33,

F68.29).” 194 Loo’s brokerage between H. L. Hsieh and John D. Rockefeller Jr. gave us

more detailed information about his role. In 1949 Loo notified Rockefeller of the

availability of Hsieh’s collection. In terms of price and commission, Loo wrote to

Rockefeller, “ As I wish to make this sale as clearly as possible, so I am enclosing the

receipt that I gave to Mr. Hsieh to show you the real price. If you wish to buy directly,

you can very well send him the check so to avoid entries in our books…The price marked

is the price he has actually paid because I know every piece from the origin. So he is not

trying to sell more than what he has paid. If you buy from him at the price, he will lose

10% as commission to us.” 195 Rockefeller informed Loo that he would be willing to pay

$7,500 net for a square famille verte Kangxi vase, which was offered originally for

$9,000. 196 In response, Loo proposed to deduct his commission from the price because he

had made an agreement with Mr. Hsieh that Hsieh would sell everything for the exact

price he had paid less the 10% commission for Loo. 197

193
Freer’s purchase vouchers, May 11, June 3, 1915,CLFP-FGA; “Famous Chinese
Paintings.” American Art News, March 20, 1915, 3.
194 Thomas Lawton, email message to author, December 14, 2006.
195 C. T. Loo to JDR Jr., October 24, 1949, folder 106, C. T. Loo 1945-1951, box 11,
OMR- RAC.
196
Janet M. Warfield to C. T. Loo, October 26, 1949, folder 106, C. T. Loo 1945-1951,
box 11, OMR-RAC.
197 C. T. Loo to JDR Jr., October 28, 1949, folder 106, C. T. Loo 1945-1951, box 11,
OMR-RAC Other dealers’ commission rate varied. In the transaction of the portrait of