Organizer: Lara Netting, Princeton University
Chair and Discussant: Stanley K. Abe, Duke University
Relying on new research into collected objects and
archival materials, this panel proposes to expand our knowledge of three men
who each and jointly played a critical role in bringing Chinese art – the concept and the objects – to
the West from 1900-1950: Duanfang (1861-1911), Manchu governor and renowned
collector of antiquities; John Ferguson (1866-1945), collector, dealer, and
longtime resident of Peking; and C. T. Loo (1880-1957), pioneering international
dealer of Asian art. Jason Steuber will look at how Duanfang, through a variety
of media, publicized himself and his vast collections internationally and domestically.
Elya Zhang will explore how the Manchu governor, as a commissioner to Western
countries, integrated diplomacy with the presentation of ancient bronzes and
jades belonging to him and to China. Lara Netting will examine how John Ferguson
sought to acquire and record Duanfang’s objects, while simultaneously
exploiting social connections to sell other pieces abroad. Yiyou Wang will look
at how C. T. Loo conducted his business with curators, scholars, collectors,
and competing dealers, roles that were frequently interchangeable. Art collectors
in the West learned of Duanfang’s collection through his self-promotion,
then acquired his antiquities through middlemen such as Ferguson and Loo.
Our panel aims to explore with our audience these complex, interconnected, and
as yet understudied processes. We will also probe the fluidity of the line between
scholar, collector, and dealer, an elusive subject in studies of Chinese
art collection, and hope to arrive at a better understanding of how Loo (publicly)
and Ferguson (privately) negotiated their transactions.
Jason Mark Steuber, Glasgow University
Public and private art collections attract attention by disseminating images
and articles related to their holdings. Museums and collectors endeavor to
improve their image by publicizing their collections. For example, museums and
collectors actively brand their works to successfully compete in the market.
These publicity initiatives directly influence scholarship and eventually weave
their branding into art historical canons. Whether a museum/private collector
directly publishes their works or harnesses scholarly services, results are
the same; the collection is made known and studied. During the late Qing dynasty,
the politician and Chinese art collector Duanfang navigated similar lines to
establish himself and his collections in China and globally. He personally financed
publications of his collections, loaned works to exhibitions, and gifted items
to foreign museums. He also promoted himself by seeking relationships with domestic
and foreign collectors. During an international diplomatic mission, he labored
to ensure that he emerged as one of the most cited and photographed late Qing
officials and art connoisseurs in the foreign press. This presentation reviews
how Duanfang made his collection and himself known to art scholars and collectors
in China and internationally. First, his private catalogues are explored. Second,
domestic exhibitions associated with him are addressed. Third, his diplomatic
mission is shown to have ensured popularity in North America and Europe. Fourth,
Duanfang’s
photographic portraits suggest he inserted himself into art, political, economic,
and religious publications. It concludes with his continued impressions on
the collection and study of Chinese art over the past century.
Elya Zhang, University of California, San Diego
The Qing dynasty sought constitutional monarchy to solve its legitimacy crisis
in the late 1900s. This reform project started with a high-profile delegation
abroad to “investigate Western political systems” as a demonstration
of the court’s determination to introduce a new form of government. The
delegation, led by five dignitaries, traveled around Japan, America, and
Europe in six months, seeing and being seen. Out of the five commissioners,
the Manchu governor and connoisseur Duanfang was neither the most powerful,
nor the most prestigious, nor the most educated one, but he managed to become
the superstar of this trip by posing as both an official and an art savant.
During his meetings with the presidents, ministers, monarchs, and nobles, he
presented precious bronzes and jades from his personal collection as gifts.
During his visits to museums and universities, he held exhibitions of Chinese
antiques and gave lectures. He turned a political mission into a cultural event,
integrating the cosmopolitan exploration of constitutionalism with the exhibition
of ancient Chinese beauty. How did he cultivate his interest in antique collecting
in the first place? With whom did he engage to build up his famous collection?
How was his affection for bronzes translated into diplomatic maneuvers? Did
his connoisseurship play a further role in later constitutional reform? Furthermore,
in general, was there a connection between identification with a Chinese cultural
essence and identification with the monarch? I address these questions by examining
his networks with renowned literati, his subordinates in the delegation, and
foreign diplomats.
Lara Netting, Princeton University
John C. Ferguson (1866-1945) lived in China for fifty-six years, working
successively as a missionary, educator, and official in the Qing and Republican
governments. He was also intensely active as collector, scholar, and (less
openly) dealer of Chinese art, gradually earning recognition for his expertise
in both Chinese and Western art circles. From 1902-09, Ferguson worked intermittently
as adviser to the Manchu governor Duanfang and learned from this great collector
how to appreciate Chinese bronzes, rubbings, and other antiquities. Duanfang
was killed in 1911, but Ferguson perpetuated his relationship with his former
employer, buying valuable objects from Duanfang’s family for himself,
Charles Freer, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum. Based primarily on
new research into Ferguson’s private collection, now owned by Nanjing
University, my talk will reveal how the Qing collection to a large extent shaped
Ferguson’s own. The American treasured rubbings inscribed for him by Duanfang;
he acquired, in the 1910s and 1920s, several significant pieces formerly owned
by the Manchu connoisseur; still later he compiled albums of reproductions of
additional objects, including some that he had helped to sell abroad. I will
also discuss how Ferguson’s established position as a dealer in Peking,
combined with his acquaintance with Duanfang’s family, assisted him in
purchasing bronzes and paintings for Western collectors. Ultimately, Ferguson’s
appreciation for Duanfang’s objects, transmitted to him by their owner,
led him to preserve a partial record of that extensive late Qing collection,
even while he simultaneously played a role in its dispersion.
Yiyou Wang, Ohio University
The network of dealers, collectors, and curators/scholars played a critical
role in shaping major Chinese art collections in America in the first half
of the twentieth century. Considering the unprecedented speed and scale of the
circulation of Chinese antiquities in the United States, it constituted a
dynamic world where collaboration and competition, friendship and mistrust coexisted
among these three players. This small, closely-knit community also encouraged
players to exchange roles constantly. It was a site of power and glamour
where profit, politics, and pleasure entangled. It is, however, remarkable that
this important world in the formative years of Chinese art collections in the
U.S. has often been neglected by scholars largely due to its secretive nature
and limited sources of research materials. This paper employs mainly archival
materials to reconstruct this hidden matrix through an investigation of the
circle of C.T. Loo (1880-1957), a leading international dealer of Chinese art
who introduced a large number of world-class objects to prominent American collectors,
museum professionals, and scholars. This paper concerns primarily the modes
of transaction in this web of relationships. The first three sections look at
the dealer-dealer, dealer-collector, and dealer-curator/scholar interaction
respectively. The final part weaves together previous materials to foreground
how “Chinese art” was
framed by the mechanism consisting of the art market, museums, academia,
and private sectors in America.
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