A Pair of Clair-de-Lune Glazed Porcelain 'Garlic Head' Bottle Vases

19TH CENTURY

清晚期天藍釉蒜頭瓶一對
each having a globular body raised by a thick spreading foot, all narrowing to an elongated neck flanked by open-mouthed beast masks as handles before widening to a 'garlic head' mouth.

Height 9 3/4 in., 24.6 cm.

Property from the Estate of Margaret S. Tom, Eloy, Arizona

MARGARET S. TOM (1946-2022), was born to first-generation immigrants Susan and Henry Tom, and raised in Chicago. After graduating from George Mason University, Tom joined the U.S. State Department, and served tours of duty across Gabon, France, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, China, and Japan; residing, as well, in Vietnam and Seattle. She inherited a passion for the arts and eye for beauty from her mother, a skilled painter of Chinese landscapes; and nurtured these aesthetic sensibilities visiting galleries throughout her travels. She would return with beautiful objects to fill her home, where she also enjoyed hobbies of tennis, bridge, piano, guitar, and accordion, and caring for her dog, Mick. She retired in Eloy, Arizona, and bequeathed her art collection to the Pui Tak Center, a church-based community center in Chicago’s Chinatown, in honor of her parents who settled in the area years before. The proceeds from the sale go to support charitable work serving immigrants for generations to come.

前美國國務院外交官湯瑪麗藏清代單色釉。湯瑪麗（1946-2022）為華裔移民二代，成長于芝加哥，求學于喬治梅森大學，畢業後加入美國外交部，先後駐于加蓬、法國、香港、菲律賓、印尼、中國及日本等國。八十年代在亞洲外派期間，常往香港搜羅古玩，本次釋出的Lot 1-14號即爲當年收進的精品，瓷器全部購自香港蘇富比或福成行。退休後湯瑪麗定居于溫暖宜人的亞利桑那州，今年早些時候下世，因懷念故鄉芝加哥，遂將遺產捐獻給芝城華埠的培德中心。培德是華埠的歷史地標，以教會為基，面向三萬多名華僑，提供法務、移民、求學、就職等方面的義務咨詢與社會服務。本次拍賣所得將全部用於培德中心的慈善項目。