Portrait of the Wife of Dodo, Prince Yu (1614-1649)

Object Details

• Provenance

  To ca.1949

  Wu Laixi 吳賴熙 (d. ca.1949-1950) reportedly acquired from decedents of noble Chinese families [1]

  ca.1949 to 1959

  Wu Ping-Chung (dates unknown and Chinese characters for the name unknown) inherited ownership upon Wu Laixi's death around 1949 [2]

  1959 to 1985

  Richard G. Pritzlaff (1902-1997) by transfer of ownership from Wu Ping-Chung on June 15, 1959 [3]

  1985 to 1987

  H. Ross Perot (1930-2019) purchased from Richard G. Pritzlaff in 1985 [4]

  1987 to 1991

  Richard G. Pritzlaff purchased from H. Ross Perot in 1987 [5]

  From 1991

  The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery acquired through partial gift and partial purchase from Richard G. Pritzlaff in 1991 [6]

  Notes:

  [1] Wu Laixi 吳賴熙 (alternate romanization: Wu Lai-hsi) was an antiquities dealer who often sold high-quality, imperial goods sourced from Chinese nobles, among other sources. Active in the 1930s and 1940s, Wu Laixi purchased portraits in China, reportedly for his personal collection and for resale; he took great pride in his collection, labeling himself as the first collector of Chinese ancestor portraits.

  In 1937, Wu sold portraits to the American, Richard G. Pritzlaff, who was visiting China. Pritzlaff and Wu remained in touch. In the 1940s, Wu worried about his financial security and the fate of his collection in China, where war with Japan and domestic turmoil threatened the security of private art collections. Wu wrote to Pritzlaff, asking if he could send portraits in exchange for money to survive. Between 1940 and 1948, Wu sent three shipments of portraits and other art objects to Pritzlaff's ranch in New Mexico. Wu intended for Pritzlaff to sell the majority of the art objects he sent, however, Pritzlaff did not want to disperse the collection, so he sent as much money as he could to Wu and retained the art. Pritzlaff reported that he "thought of himself as the owner of some paintings but wanted to be only a temporary custodian of others" and intended for Wu to one day collect the entire collection. It remains unclear which portraits Pritzlaff believed he owned. See letters from Wu Laixi to Pritzlaff, September 4, 1940; June 27, 1941; June 17, 1947; and August 6, 1948, copies in accession file.

  [2] See note 1. Upon Wu's death, Pritzlaff contacted Wu's son, Wu Ping-Chung who lived in Taiwan; he declined to claim the collection but retained ownership rights until he transferred them to Pritzlaff in 1959. See the letter from Wu Ping-Chung addressed "To Whom it May Concern," June 15, 1959, witnessed by Major Thurman W. Oliver of the United States Army, copy in accession file. In the letter Wu declares, "I .... Hereby transfer, for remunerations received, my interest and rights inherited from my father, Mr. Wu Lai-hsi, deceased, in his collection of paintings, to Mr. Richard Pritzlaff of Sapello, New Mexico, U.S.A."

  [3] See note 2. Richard G. Pritzlaff was a collector of Chinese art and a rancher who initially raised cattle but then became a well-known breeder of

  Arabian horses. When studying landscape architecture at University of California at Berkeley and then at Harvard, he developed an interest in China. He traveled there in 1937 and began collecting Chinese objects. For Pritzlaff's account of how he acquired his collection, see letter addressed "Dear Sir" from Pritzlaff, October12, 1988, copy in accession file.

  [4] H. Ross Perot was an American business magnate, billionaire, philanthropist and politician. He ran for president in 1992 and 1996, establishing the Reform Party. In 1985, Perot visited Pritzlaff's ranch to inspect his Arabian horses. After the visit, Perot unexpectedly approached Pritzlaff, proposing to purchase the collection of Chinese ancestor portraits and construct a museum in Texas to house them. In 1987, when it became clear that Perot had decided

  not to construct the museum, Pritzlaff bought back the collection. For specifics of this transaction, see letter from H. Ross Perot's daughter, Nancy P. Mulford to James Cahill, December 26, 1986 and September 11, 1987, copies in accession file. James Cahill (1926-2014), curator at Freer Gallery of Art from 1958--1965 and then faculty at University of California at Berkley, evaluated the collection when owned by Perot. For an account of Cahill's experiences, see http://jamescahill.info/the-writings-of-james-cahill/responses-a-reminiscences/167-45-my-day-with-ross-perotw.

  [5] See note 4.

  [6] For the deed of gift and purchase arrangement, see accession file.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Richard G. Pritzlaff (1902-1997)

  H. Ross Perot (1930-2019)

  Wu Ping-Chung

  Wu Laixi 吳賴熙 (died ca. 1950)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program and partial gift of Richard G. Pritzlaff

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s, 1640s

• Name

  Wu, Ping-Chung, Wu, Laixi, Pritzlaff, Richard G., Perot, H. Ross

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Portraits, Pritzlaff collection, Woman, Dragon

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings