Belt hook (daigou) with dragon interlace

Object Details

• Provenance

  To 1948

  Jun Tsei Tai (1911-1992), Shanghai to February 1948 [1]

  1948

  Likely Luwu Antiques Company, Shanghai purchased from J. T. Tai in 1948 [2]

  1948 to 1949

  C. T. Loo, INC. by transfer from Luwu Antiques Company, Shanghai [3]

  From 1949

  Freer Gallery of Art, Purchased from C. T. Loo, INC. in May 1949 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] Jun Tsei Tai (more commonly known in the West as J. T. Tai), known also as Dai Fubao in Shanghai, was an incredibly 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.

  See C. T. Loo's stock card no. 46086: "Bronze buckle, curved flat spoon shape with dragon's head hook decorated with intertwined dragons in gold inlaid on silver ground, filled in with small dots. Abstract motives on sides in similar inlaid. Late Chou," Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris. C. T. Loo's stock card notes the source of the object as: “from J. T. Tai China Feb 48.”

  [2] Luwu was an export business that supplied C. T. Loo & Company, New York and Paris with Chinese objects. Loo formed this company in 1926. The name, Luwu combines the names of C. T. Loo and Wu Qi Zhou, Luwu’s primary associates. The business acquired objects from across China, but everything passed through Shanghai before being sent to France. Zhou and Laio would send all acquisitions to Shanghai, where Wu packaged and shipped them to France. J. T. Tai (see note 1) began working with Luwu around 1938. Tai operated Fuyun zhai guwandian, a shop with a large inventory in Shanghai.

  [3] C. T. Loo formed C. T. Loo, INC. in 1948, when he lost direct access to trade in China. See invoice from C. T. Loo, INC. to Freer Gallery of Art, May 10, 1949. This object is “46086.”

  [4] See note 3.

• 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)

  Lu Wu Antiques Co. 盧吳古玩公司 (1911-ca. 1949)

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

• 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

  Lu Wu Antiques Co., Tai, Jun Tsei, C.T. Loo, INC.

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Inlay (process), Sculpture, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE), Dragon, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Ornaments, Jewelry