Six Chinese Glass Overlay Snuff Bottles
套料鼻烟壺六支
-The first 19th/20th century, of bulging ovoid form, the shoulders sloping to a waisted neck, with a flat lip and base surrounded by a protruding oval footrim, the amber-colored body suffused with gold flecks, with a ruby-red overlay, well-carved to depict magpies amid flowering prunus branches, the footrim also carved from the overlay.
-The second, 19th/20th century, of flattened circular form, with a flat lip, waisted neck and shallow oval protruding footrim, the body dark ruby-red, with a well-carved sky-blue overlay, depicting on one main side a chilong clambering through a bi disc, bats flying above, the reverse with cranes and a pavilion among clouds emerging from a three-toed frog, all above waves.
-The third, probably 20th century, of flattened pear-form with tall neck, flat lip, the opaque turquoise-geen body overlaid with black and yellow, carved with a goldfish among waterplants, verso with a crab and millet, underside with carved apocryphal Qianlong seal mark
-The fourth, 19th century, of tapering rounded-rectangular form, the shoulders sloping to a waisted neck, with a wide mouth, flat lip and protruding splayed oval footrim, the densely bubble-suffused body with black and caramel overlays depicting, on the main sides, lotus and Buddha's hand citron growing from antique vessels, the narrow sides with elongated mask-and-ring carvings, the footrim also carved from the overlay
-The fifth, 19th century, the five-color overlay glass of flattened ovoid form, the shoulders sloping to a slightly everted neck, with a flat lip and protruding oval footrim, the bubble-suffused bottle decorated with overlays in pink, red, blue and orange, carved as flowerheads connected by leafy green vines, the footrim also neatly carved from the green overlay
-The sixth, late 20th century. Double-overlay glass of pear-shape, the shoulders sloping to a slightly everted lipped neck, with a concave lip and protruding oval footrim, the striated cloudy-white and brown body thinly overlaid in caramel, covering the body with a geometric diaper-pattern ground and carved on the narrow sides with elongated mask-and-rings, as well as the footrim, and a second overlay on the main sides in dark brown to depict a groom pulling a reluctant horse, beneath lingzhi-shaped clouds.
Tallest height with stopper 3 1/4 in., 8.2 cm.
Property from the Estate of Dr. Thomas Klein, sold to benefit Jefferson Hospital
This lot is located in Philadelphia.
-The first acquired February 29, 2024
-The second acquired June 4, 2023
-The fourth acquired September 30, 2023
-The fifth: John Nicholson Auction, Haslemere, UK, April 24, 2019, lot m201
-The sixth acquired January 21st, 2024
Property from the Estate of Dr. Thomas A. Klein, MD. Sold to benefit the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Thomas Klein醫生遺產，拍賣所得歸Jefferson醫院。
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
