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Showing posts from October, 2015

WHERE IS THE ALTAR OF THE GREEN JADE PAGODA

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? This is the second blog in a series to answer one of the most common questions we are asked as museum staff - where is a specific item that a visitor once saw on display at the Haggin Museum currently located. THE ALTAR OF THE GREEN JADE PAGODA In 1939, the Haggin Museum displayed the magnificent Altar of the Green Jade Pagoda.  It was lent to the museum by Chang Wen-ti, proprietor of the Chinese Jade Company in Los Angeles.  The display was part of a fund raising drive by Stockton’s Chinese community for the hungry and homeless children of China who had been affected by Japan’s invasion of their country in 1937. Produced by some 150 artisans working over a ten year period in Shanghai, the pagoda stood 51” high, was 13” at its base and weighed over 75 pounds.  It rested upon an alter of three terraces, each surrounded by a grilled balustrade and connected by a series of stair cases. The entire display was made up of over 700 separate pieces. It was pa