Two Chinese Carved Agate Snuff Bottles, Qing Dynasty
清中期 瑪瑙巧雕鼻烟壺兩支
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
One of bulbous rounded-rectangular form, the shoulders sloping to a cylindrical neck, the lip and base concave, well carved in relief to depict a continuous scene, on one main side with two sages playing weiqi beneath a pine tree, the reverse with another sage reclining in a boat within a mountainous landscape, very well hollowed; the second possibly late 18th century, of bulbous ovoid form, with a cylindrical neck, concave lip, and protruding oval footrim, the stone very well hollowed, a black surface inclusion on one side finely carved to depict an eagle attacking a bear, a smaller inclusion on the reverse carved in low relief as a duck beneath a lotus plant.

Note:
The eagle and bear are a rebus for yingxiong: "Hero" or "Champion", suggesting wishes for strength, victory, or success
Height of largest without stopper 2 1/2 in., 6.4 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.
-Figures: acquired from Manheim Galleries, New Orleans, 1985
-Eagle and Bear: acquired from Ashkenazie & Co., San Francisco, 1989
來源：
Thomas Klein醫生遺產，拍賣所得歸Jefferson醫院。
左：1985年購自新奧爾良市Manheim藝廊。
右：1989年購自舊金山Ashkenazie & Co行。

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

Both in generally good condition, lacking spoons; sages with very slight fleabites to edge of lip; eagle and bear with soiling to interior, otherwise good

Additional photos are updated before the sale via this link https://asian.smugmug.com/Sale-6479. Please read the above or contact us to request a complete condition report.
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