Purportedly discovered in tomb located in Shou xian, Anhui province, China [1]
To 1948
Zhang Naiji (1899–1948), Shanghai, China, then New York, NY [2]
1948 to early 1950s
Zhang Mei Chien (1901–ca.1955), New York, NY, inherited upon her husband’s death [3]
Early 1950s to 1950
C. T. Loo and Company, New York, NY, and Paris, France, purchased from Zhang Mei Chien in New York, NY [4]
1950 to around summer of 1953
C. T. Loo, INC., New York, NY, by transfer from C. T. Loo and Company, New York, NY, in 1950 [5]
Around summer of 1953 to 1961
C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York, NY, by transfer from C. T. Loo, INC., on September 1, 1952 [6]
Around 1961 to 1964
Frank Caro Chinese Art, New York, NY, mode of acquisition unknown [7]
1964 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY, purchased from Frank Caro Chinese Art on August 27, 1964, in New York, NY [5]
From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler in 1987 [6]
Notes:
[1] Object published in Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition, February 1940 (Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1940), cat. 128 or 132. Catalogue entry notes discovery site as Shou hsien (now known as Shou xian), where tombs were exposed between 1931 and 1932. During this period, the tombs were never properly excavated.
[2] Zhang Naiji (also known as N. C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins.
Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938, and acquired his objects onsite of archaeological excavations (see Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty [New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963], p. 115).
Zhang lent his collection anonymously to Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition. We know his identity through letters housed in the Department of Archives, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, October 25, 1939, and letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, December 16, 1939), copies in Freer and Sackler COM provenance files. The exhibition was entirely organized by C. T. Loo and Company, New York. Letters exchanged between C. T. Loo and the director of
The University Museum, Mr. Horace H. F. Jayne, reveal that Zhang Naiji owned the objects and C. T. Loo and Company had the collection on consignment (see letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, May 28, 1939, and letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, October 23, 1940, copies on COM provenance files). C. T. Loo and Company kept the jade collection on consignment from 1940 through Zhang’s death in 1948, inventorying the pieces with a prefix “J” and labeling each item as “Chang [Zhang] Collection.”
[3] Zhang Mei Chien, Zhang Naiji’s wife, assumed ownership upon his death in 1948. She sold several pieces from her husband’s collection to C. T. Loo and Company (later C. T. Loo, INC., and C. T. Loo Chinese Art) and J. T. Tai and Company. She sold to J. T. Tai and Company in July 1954 (for example, see J. T. Tai and Company stock record YT 886 and YT 895, copies in COM provenance files).
[4] See note 3. When C. T. Loo and Company, New York and Paris, purchased the object, they retained the same stock number that they assigned the object when the company consigned it: J14b (see note 7). The exact date of purchase is unknown.
[5] See note 3. In 1950, C. T. Loo announced his retirement from C. T. Loo and Company, New York and Paris. Between 1950 and 1952, he continued to do business; however, he did so under the name C. T. Loo, INC., and organized exhibitions of his company’s stock using this new business name. C. T. Loo’s daughter, Janie Emanuel, operated the Paris branch of C. T. Loo and Company as C. T. Loo and Cie., Arts d’Asie.
[6] See note 3. 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. It is unclear when C. T. Loo Chinese Art acquired items from Zhang Mei Chien, but we know they did as this object and several other jades from Zhang’s collection were sold by Frank Caro through his subsequent business.
[7] In 1961, Loo and Caro’s agreement ended. C. T. Loo and Cie., Paris, France, took control of C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York’s stock that C. T. Loo had added to the inventory before his death in 1957. Frank Caro then opened
Frank Caro Chinese Art. Caro acquired pieces from Loo’s original stock (the mode of acquisition is unknown) and incorporated them into his own stock. Frank Caro Chinese Art continued to use the stock numbers assigned to objects by C. T. Loo Chinese Art. Frank Caro Chinese Art sold this object to Dr. Arthur Sackler. See no. J 14b: “Pair of dragons” on invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art addressed to Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, copy in accession file.
[8] See note 7. This object was part of Arthur M. Sackler’s 1987 foundational gift.
[9] 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:
In Praise of Ancestors: Ritual Objects from China (September 28, 1987 to January 1, 1989)
Archaic Chinese Jades, Special Exhibition (February 1940)
