Garment hook (daigou) with geometric decoration

Object Details

• Provenance

  To 1949

  Jun Tsei Tai (1911-1992), Shanghai, to March 1949 [1]

  1949

  C. T. Loo & Company, New York, purchased from Jun Tsei Tai in March 1949 [2]

  From 1949

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on November 7, 1949 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See C. T. Loo's stockcard no. 46344: "Bronze buckle, long curved buckle inlaid with gold and turquoise, Late Chou," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file.

  According to an annotation on the stockcard, Loo purchased the object from J. T. Tai.

  Jun Tsei Tai (more commonly known in the West as J. T. Tai), known also as Dai Fubao in Shanghai, was a successful art dealer who was initially based in Shanghai China. Tai became one of C. T. Loo's most prolific suppliers in the 1940s. In 1949, however, J. T. Tai fled with his family to Hong Kong, when Communist leaders came into power. In 1950, he immigrated to New York City, where he established J. T. Tai & Company, a successful company that specialized in the sale of Chinese arts.

  [2] See C. T. Loo's stockcard cited in note 1. On February 21, 1949, the object was sent to the Freer Gallery for examination.

  [3] See C. T. Loo's invoice, dated November 7, 1949, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Personal Luxuries in Early China (July 7, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Chinese Art (February 18, 1983 to April 1, 1987)

  Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Jun Tsei Tai 戴潤齋 (1911-1992)

  C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Jewelry and Ornament

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  Tai, Jun Tsei, C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Inlay (process), Sculpture, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Ornaments, Jewelry