Five Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Snuff Bottles, 19th-Early 20th Century
晚清-民國青花鼻烟壺五支

19th-early 20th Century

The first of small cylindrical form, with a wide mouth, short everted lipped neck, flat lip and protruding circular footrim, the milk-white body painted underglaze in cobalt blue and copper red, depicting a continuous scene of boys in various pursuits beneath clouds and a leafy branch; The second of flattered spherical form, depicting classical figures in a landscape; the third of rectangular form decorated with dramatic figures, an apocryphal Chenghua mark, the narrow sides with inscriptions identifying the scenes and dated to a dingyou year (1837 or 1897); the fourth of tall ovoid form finely painted with a continuous scene depicting eight foreign tribute-bearers (ba man jin bao), each bestride or beside an animal and holding a tribute item, the base with a well-written 6-character regular script Xianfeng nianzhi mark in underglaze blue, and of the period; the fifth of ovoid form, with a six-character Yongzheng mark on the underside, depicting a continuous scene of Manchu horsemen being greeted by an official at “Victory Gate”

Height of largest without stopper 3 5/16 in., 8.4 cm.

Property from the Estate of Dr. Thomas A. Klein, MD., Sold to benefit the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

This lot is located in New York.

Property from the Estate of Dr. Thomas A. Klein, MD. Sold to benefit the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

-The first acquired from the collection of Mitchell Bistany sold at Tremont Auction, Sudbury, Massachusetts, October 22, 2023, lot 471;

-The third acquired from The Dr. Sylvan and Faith Golder Collection sold at Bonham‘s New York, March 19, 2018, Part II, lot 1

-The fourth acquired from Oriental Art Auctions, Hattem, The Netherlands, April 25, 2017, lot 61

-The fifth Eldred’s Auctions, Massachusetts, August 23, 2003, lot 9.

The Dr. Sylvan and Faith Golder Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles sold at Bonham’s New York, March 19, 2018, Part II, lot 116.

來源：

Thomas Klein醫生遺產，拍賣所得歸Jefferson醫院。

其一：Mitchell Bistany舊藏。馬薩諸塞州Sudbury市Tremont拍賣行2023年10月22日第471號。

其三：Sylvan及Faith Golder夫婦舊藏，邦瀚斯紐約2018年3月19日專場第1號。

其四：購自荷蘭Hattem市Oriental Art拍賣啊很難過2017年4月25日專場第61號。

其五：馬薩諸塞州Eldred’s拍賣行2003年8月23日專場第9號。Sylvan及Faith Golder夫婦藏鼻烟壺。紐約邦瀚斯2018年3月19日專場第116號。

湯姆·克萊因醫生收藏鼻烟壺逾四十年。他畢業於哈佛大學與羅徹斯特大學，曾於美國陸軍擔任婦產科醫師並出任高階領導職務。其後於傑佛遜醫院服務三十年，2023年以婦產科副主任身分榮退，期間培養了五百餘名住院醫師與無數醫學生。他的學術與臨床精神延續於以其名設立的「Thomas A. Klein 講席教授」，本場拍賣所得亦歸於傑佛遜醫院。

Tom Klein’s life was shaped by two enduring passions: medicine and the collecting of snuff bottles. While these worlds rarely intersected, both were marked by the same qualities—quiet dedication, discernment, and grace.

Tom was unfailingly modest–when the I.C.S.B.S. held its convention in Philadelphia, he entrusted me to select bottles from his collection for the exhibition “Embers of the East,” a task made challenging by the number of exceptional bottles. His passion for collecting was thoughtful rather than acquisitive, grounded in appreciation rather than display. These were his companions—objects he handled, studied, and loved for over 40 years.

Professionally, Tom enjoyed an equally distinguished career. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Rochester, he served as an obstetrician-gynecologist in the U.S. Army in senior leadership roles. He spent thirty years at Jefferson Hospital, retiring in 2023 as Vice Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, having trained more than five hundred residents and countless medical students. His legacy continues through the Thomas A. Klein, MD Professorship in Quality and Safety in Women’s Health.

To those who knew him as a collector, these accomplishments mirrored the man I admired: principled, generous, and exacting without pretension. Over the 35 years I had the privilege to know him, he was a gentleman in the most absolute sense of the word. Though he is deeply missed, his presence endures in the objects he cherished and in our shared love of snuff bottles.

Clare Chu

Five Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Snuff Bottles, 19th-Early 20th Century晚清-民國 青花鼻烟壺五支

Five Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Snuff Bottles, 19th-Early 20th Century晚清-民國 青花鼻烟壺五支

Five Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Snuff Bottles, 19th-Early 20th Century
晚清-民國青花鼻烟壺五支

Five Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Snuff Bottles, 19th-Early 20th Century
晚清-民國青花鼻烟壺五支