Provenance:

Zhirou Zhai Collection

Hugh M. Moss, Ltd., 1993

Bonham’s Hong Kong, May 27, 2012, The Collection of Mary and George Bloch, lot 66

Dr. Thomas A. Klein, MD., acquired from the above

Published:

Moss et al, Treasury, Vol. 2, pp.86-87, no.212

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, 1995, pp.446-447, no. 291

Exhibited:

British Museum, London, U.K., June 20-October 15, 1995

Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July-November 1997 

來源：

知柔齋收藏。

香港莫士撝Hugh M. Moss Ltd.，1993年。

瑪麗與莊智博珍藏。

香港邦瀚斯2012年5月27日《瑪麗與莊智博珍藏鼻煙壺》第五部分專場66號拍品。

Thomas Klein醫生遺產，拍賣所得歸Jefferson醫院。

著錄：

Moss et al, Treasury, 第二卷，第86-87頁，編號212。

Robert Kleiner，《瑪麗與莊智博珍藏中國鼻煙壺》，大英博物館出版社，1995年，第446-447頁，編號291。

展覽：

大英博物館，倫敦，1995年6月至10月。

以色列博物館，耶路撒冷，1997年7月至11月。

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

overall very good condition.

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