Tomb figure of a groom

Object Details

• Description

  Pottery with "three-color" glaze.

  Figurine: mortuary, of a black groom, left hand restored.

  Clay: fine, whitish buff, fired medium hard.

  Glaze: transparent, with fine crackle, over green robe with brown lapels and brown boots, hand white; head and neck unglazed and painted.

• Provenance

  To 1948

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

  From 1948 to 1952

  C. T. Loo & Company, New York, purchased from Jun Tsei Tai in February 1948 [2]

  From 1952

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on June 25, 1952 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See C. T. Loo's stockcard no. 46081: "Pottery statuette of a groom wearing a long green coat with wide lapels. Brownish yellow boots, right arm uplifted as holding a horse bridle. Negro groom, probably Ethiopian. Central Asia T'ang. Ht: 8 ins.," copy in object file. According to an annotation on the stockcard, the object was acquired in China from J. T. Tai in February 1948.

  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 above. The object was transferred to the Freer Gallery in April 1948.

  See C. T. Loo's Approval Memorandum, dated April 14, 1948, copy in object file. In the memorandum, Loo stated that the object was excavated in Sian Fu [Xi'an], Shaanxi.

  [3] See C. T. Loo's invoice, dated June 25, 1952.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)

  Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 13 (November 10, 1955 to March 1, 1957)

• 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

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  700s

• Name

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

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Foreigner, Art, Chinese Art, Tang dynasty (618 - 907), Funerary, Ceramics, Groom

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Sculpture