Belt hook (<em>daigou</em>) with dragon interlace
date: label: Date
content: 4th century BCE
label: Period
content: Late Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period
notes: label: Provenance
content: To 1948
label: Provenance
content: Jun Tsei Tai (1911-1992), Shanghai to February 1948 [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1948
label: Provenance
content: Likely Luwu Antiques Company, Shanghai purchased from J. T. Tai in 1948 [2]
label: Provenance
content: 1948 to 1949
label: Provenance
content: C. T. Loo, INC. by transfer from Luwu Antiques Company, Shanghai [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1949
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, Purchased from C. T. Loo, INC. in May 1949 [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Provenance
content: 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.”
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Provenance
content: [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.”
label: Provenance
content: [4] See note 3.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Personal Luxuries in Early China (July 7, 1998 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (February 18, 1983 to April 1, 1987)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Jun Tsei Tai 戴潤齋 (1911-1992)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Lu Wu Antiques Co. 盧吳古玩公司 (1911-ca. 1949)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: C. T. Loo, INC. (ca. 1948-no later than July 1953)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: casting
label: Topic
content: inlay (process)
label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: dragon
label: Topic
content: Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE)
label: Topic
content: Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1949.6
objectType: label: Type
content: Jewelry and Ornament
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bronze inlaid with gold and silver
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 12.4 x 6.1 x 3 cm (4 7/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 3/16 in)