Scroll Wrapper

Object Details

• Description

  Scroll wrapper: square piece of yellow silk with woven gilt-thread design. In the center of silk square, a lobed cartouche defined by three concentric lines appears, inside of which two, five-clawed writhing dragons form a circle around a flaming pearl. At each corner of the silk square (outside the cartouche), a spray of peony flowers appears. Undecorated yellow silk backing. A woven ribbon (crimson and ivory) is attached by thread at one corner.

• Provenance

  Possibly to no later than 1948

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

  Possibly ca.1949 to 1959 see previous comment

  Wu Ping-Chung (dates unknown) inherited ownership upon Wu Laixi's death around 1949 [2]

  To 1991

  Richard G. Pritzlaff (1902-1997), mode of acquisition unknown [3]

  From 1991

  The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery acquired through partial gift and partial purchase from Richard G. Pritzlaff [4]

  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 notes 1 & 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. In theory it is possible, however, that Pritzlaff purchased it from another source but there is no information he sought out portraits from dealers other than Wu Laixi.

  [4] 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)

  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

  Costume and Textile

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s, 1640s

• Name

  Wu, Ping-Chung, Wu, Laixi, Pritzlaff, Richard G.

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Peony, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Pritzlaff collection, Dragon, Brocading, Weft patterning

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Costume, Textiles