Ritual wine container (Hu)

Object Details

• Provenance

  From at least 1940 to 1948

  C. T. Loo & Company, New York, NY [1]

  1948 to 1953

  C. T. Loo, INC., New York, NY by transfer from C. T. Loo & Company, NY [2]

  1953 to 1961

  C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York, NY by transfer from C. T. Loo, INC, NY [3]

  1961 to 1966

  C. T. Loo & Cie., Paris, France by transfer from C. T. Loo Chinese Art, NY [4]

  1966 to 1968

  Jen Chai Art Gallery INC., New York, NY, purchased from C. T. Loo & Cie. on January 20, 1966 [5]

  1968 to 1972

  J. T. Tai & Company, INC, New York, NY, purchased from Jen Chai Art Gallery INC. on December 31,1968 [6]

  1972 to 1987

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased from J. T. Tai & Company in September 1972 [7]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler [8]

  Notes:

  [1] Published in C. T. Loo & Co., Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes, The Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan) 18 October to 10 November 1940, cat. 44 (illustrated).

  [2] In 1948, when C. T. Loo & Company lost direct access to trade in China, C. T. Loo formed the company C. T. Loo, INC. In 1950, C. T. Loo announced his retirement. Loo appointed his daughter, Janie Emanuel Loo as the head of the Paris branch of C. T. Loo & Company (C. T. Loo & Cie) and his associate, Frank Caro, as the head of the New York Branch, which operated as C. T. Loo Chinese Art.

  C. T. Loo, INC. was dissolved by the summer of 1953.

  [3] See note 2. On September 1, 1952, C. T. Loo’s associate, Frank Caro (1904-1980) took over daily operations of the New York business. C. T. Loo, INC. was dissolved by the summer of 1953 and Caro operated as C. T. Loo Chinese Art. Loo continued to play a large role in the business, as he and Caro struck a deal in which profits made on Loo’s stock would be evenly divided and Loo would maintain the lease and rental payments on the company’s gallery space. When Caro assumed leadership, he re-inventoried the gallery stock, assigning new numbers, many of which began with “E.” This object was part of that inventory process; E 5003.

  [4] In 1961, Loo and Caro’s agreement ended. C. T. Loo & Cie., Paris, France took control of C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York stock, which C. T. Loo added to the inventory before his death in 1957. See also note 5.

  [5] See Jen Chai Art Gallery, INC. stock record, A 416. The inventory sheet reports that Jen Chai Art Gallery INC. purchased the bronze “HU” from C. T. Loo & Cie. as E 5003 on January 20, 1966. The object was imported from Paris on May 9, 1966. Copy in object file.

  Jen Chai Art Gallery, INC. was owned and operated by J. T. Tai, who also operated J. T. Tai & Company.

  [6] See Jen Chai Art Gallery, INC. stock record A 416; Ms. Y.C. Chen, J. T. Tai’s former secretary, confirmed that Jen Chai Art Gallery sold to J. T. Tai & Company before Tai would make sale. The stock record indicates that A 416 was part of the Jen Chai Art Gallery from 1966 through 1967.

  [7] See notation on Jen Chai Art Gallery, INC. stock record A 416 and inventory prepared by J. T. Tai & Company, INC. of objects delivered to the Sackler Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 14 September 1972, copy located in accession file.

  [8] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Chinese Bronzes from the Sackler Collection (November 19 to December 30, 1989)

  In Praise of Ancestors: Ritual Objects from China (September 28, 1987 to January 1, 1989)

  Exhibition of Chinese Arts, Special Sale (November 1, 1941 to April 30, 1942)

  An Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes (October 18 to November 10, 1940)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  C.T. Loo, INC. (ca. 1948-no later than July 1953)

  C.T. Loo Chinese Art (1953-1961)

  C.T. Loo & Cie, Art Ancien de Chine (ca. 1950-2011)

  J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., C.T. Loo Chinese Art, J. T. Tai & Co., C.T. Loo & Cie, Art Ancien de Chine, C.T. Loo, INC., C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Wine and wine making, Art, Sculpture, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)