Object: Pendant in the form of a dragon with raised uniform curls, one of a pair S1987.551

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Warring States period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 5.7 x 12.1 x 0.4 cm (2 1/4 x 4 3/4 x 3/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.551

: 凸面規則谷紋龍形佩（一對之一）
東周戰國時期（公元前475--221年）
中國
軟玉
高5.7、寬12.1、厚0.4釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.551

Provenance: By 1941 to 1948
C. T. Loo and Company, New York, NY [1]

1948 to at least 1950
C. T. Loo, INC., New York, NY, by transfer from C. T. Loo and Company, New York, NY [2]

By 1973 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY [3]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [4]

Notes:

[1] C. T. Loo and Company featured the object in a 1941 sale; see C. T. Loo and Company, Exhibition of Chinese Arts, catalogue of a Special Sale (C. T. Loo and Company: New York, NY), November 1, 1941, to April 30, 1942, no. 259 (ill). C. T. Loo and Company continued to own this object in the early months of 1950, as the company featured it in an exhibition; see C. T. Loo, INC., An Exhibition of Chinese Archaic Jades: Arranged for the Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida (New York: C. T. Loo and Co., 1950), pl. 45, no. 4 or 6 (ill).

[2] See C. T. Loo, INC., An Exhibition of Chinese Archaic Jades: Arranged for the Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida (New York: C. T. Loo and Co., 1950), pl. 41, no. 4 or 6. C. T. Loo formed C. T. Loo, INC., in 1948, when his company C. T. Loo and Company lost direct trade to China. 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.

[3] In 1973, Arthur M. Sackler loaned the object to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, for The Arts of Ancient China, 1973 to 1978. See Arthur M. Sackler’s Collection notes, copy in object file.

[4] 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.

Previous owner(s): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
C.T. Loo, INC. (ca. 1948-no later than July 1953)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.
2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2010) Object Name changed from "Pendant: dragon" to "Jewelry." Title changed from "Pendant (pei 佩): dragon" to "Pendant (pei 佩) in the form of a dragon."
3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, December 30, 2021) Added Period Two as "Warring States period"; Object Name changed from "Jewelry" to "Pendant"; Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of a dragon" to "Pendant in the form of a dragon with raised uniform curls, one of a pair"; Date changed from "4th-3rd century BCE" to "475-221 BCE"; and added Chinese translation.
4. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, July 25, 2022) Medium changed from Jade to Jade (nephrite).

Published References

Exhibition of Chinese Arts, Special Sale. Exh. cat. New York, 1941-1942. no. 259.
C.T. Loo & Company, (Introduction) Lindsay Hughes Cooper. An Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. Exh. cat. New York. no. 4 or 6.

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Pendant in the form of a dragon with raised uniform curls, one of a pair

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