Board of Directors

Richard Liu, President of the Southern California Snuff Bottle Collectors (for 25 years), and Treasurer of ICSBS, is a retired architect who headed his own design studio for 33 years. Richard is a first generation-immigrant, who arrived from Rangoon, Burma to Los Angeles at the age of 12. He later attended the University of Southern California School of Architecture on a full scholarship at 17.

Richard has been an avid collector of Chinese Snuff Bottles for 40 years with a special love for glass and porcelain bottles. Other passions include the preservation of historical buildings in Chinatown, Los Angeles, and expanding his collection of paintings of Chinatown and images depicting the immigrant experience. Richard also enjoys his life-long hobby of gardening, and aims to spend as much time outdoors as possible.

Shari Nokes serves as secretary for the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society. She is a founding partner of Nokes & Nokes, a Law Corporation. Shari has been a lawyer for 40 years. She has represented plaintiffs in personal injury cases including product liability, mass tort litigation, auto accidents, premises liability suits, assault and other actions. Shari has also represented financial institutions in suits involving major loans and real property. Her parents were Chinese snuff bottle collectors and she, too, has discovered the exhilaration of collecting the wondrous little pieces of art and history.

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Dr. Brian Spaid is the Marketing Director of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society and serves as Chair and Associate Professor of Marketing at Marquette University’s College of Business Administration. Before entering academia, he spent over a decade in industry in various roles including eCommerce executive, Silicon Valley eBusiness manager, and award-winning creative director. A third-generation collector, Brian continues a family tradition of passion and scholarship for Chinese snuff bottles, bringing his expertise in marketing strategy and digital innovation to advancing the Society’s global reach and member engagement.

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Albert Au was introduced to Chinese snuff bottles in the early 1980s through his father, Au Hang, who began collecting in the 1970s. While attending monthly dinner meetings of the Hong Kong Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, he was inspired by the passion, scholarship, and camaraderie of collectors sharing newly discovered works. Born and raised in Hong Kong and educated in North America, he later settled in Toronto, Canada, where he founded and operated a commercial printing business. Now retired, he devotes his time to travel, reading, golf, and his greatest passion—collecting snuff bottles. He looks forward each year to the ICSBS annual convention as an opportunity to exchange ideas and continue the pursuit of exceptional bottles.

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Lindsey's early career in television involved producing, writing, research and reporting for Thames Television. In 1989 she became freelance as a presenter/reporter for BSKYB, BBC World Business Reports and FT Television.

In 1994 she returned to education to study the Arts of China at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) at London University, which led to various publications for the Robert Hall Gallery, Arts of Asia Magazine, the Antique Dealer & Collector’s Guide and the ICSBS Journal, as well as managing the Robert Hall Gallery programme of international art fairs and exhibitions.

In 2007 she was elected to Westminster City Council as the Member for the Abbey Road Ward and served as the Lord Mayor of Westminster 2018/19, but has since focused exclusively on the field of Chinese snuff bottles in partnership with Robert.

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Dennis is a Toronto-based member of the ICSBS with a lifelong connection to the Society. His passion for snuff bottles is rooted in his family heritage; his father has been a prominent dealer member in Hong Kong since the 1970s. Growing up, Dennis developed a deep appreciation for the art while learning in his father’s shop and meeting collectors from around the world. He first connected with many ICSBS members while assisting his father at numerous annual conventions.

Professionally, Dennis is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector. Prior to his retirement, he held senior roles at TD Bank and CIBC Wealth Management in Canada, specializing in strategic governance, risk management, and large-scale project execution.

A dedicated community leader, Dennis currently serves as a board member for the Mon Sheong Foundation, a non-profit focused on elderly care and youth development. He combines his deep appreciation for the history of Chinese snuff bottles with a collaborative, results-oriented leadership style. Dennis is committed to applying his business acumen and technological expertise to ensure the continued success and operational excellence of the Society.

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Xiao Li is a Director of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society. Born in China and educated in England, she currently resides in Beijing. She was introduced to Chinese snuff bottles through her mother, whose collection has been exhibited at the National Museum of China. An active member of the Society since the 2010 Honolulu Convention, she is committed to preserving and sharing the cultural heritage of Chinese snuff bottles with collectors worldwide.

Alexie Macolm, from Virginia, has been a member of ICSBS since 1997 and has been collecting Snuff Bottles since 1985. She takes the researching Snuff Bottles, Chinese Mythology, Chinese Culture and Art, and the manufacturing of Snuff Bottles very seriously.

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This is Alexie’s second term on the ICSBS Board of Directors where she served from 2013-2018. She was active in organizing the 50th ICSBS Convention’s Members’ display of Snuff Bottles at the Walters Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and the publishing of the companion book, “50 for 50”.

Courtenay Compton McGowen is a Director of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society and a longtime advocate for the arts. A former member of the Nevada State Legislature, she served four terms representing a district in Reno in the 1980s before retiring from public office. She now resides in Coronado, California, and is actively engaged in the San Diego arts community. Courtenay serves on the boards of the Mingei International Museum and the Museum Trustee Association and previously organized lectures for the Asian Arts Council of the San Diego Museum of Art. She holds a BA from Finch College and an MA in Art History from Columbia University. Introduced to snuff bottles during her first trip to mainland China in 1980, she has collected ever since, with a particular fondness for agates, organics, and unusual materials.

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Joseph Baruch Silver was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1957 and encountered his first Chinese snuff bottle in 1969 at an art sale supporting an Israeli charity. With his parents’ encouragement, he began collecting in early 1970, shortly before his Bar Mitzvah. He joined the Hong Kong Snuff Bottle Society in 1971 and the ICSBS in 1974, attending his first ICSBS Convention in Hong Kong in 1978. Since then, he has missed only eight conventions. His snuff bottles have been featured in solo museum exhibitions in Jerusalem, Honolulu, Tel Aviv, and Toronto, and loaned to major museum exhibitions in Lisbon, Toronto, and Jerusalem. He has lived in Jerusalem for over five decades and previously served as an ICSBS Director from 2007 to 2011.

A Graduate in History of Art from the Sorbonne, Laurence Souksi has been passionate about Chinese snuff bottles for over thirty years. She has been a specialist in Chinese snuff bottles at the French CNES (Chambre Nationale des Experts Spécialisés) since 2002, and in 2005 co-founded the Gallery Espace 4 in Paris, devoted to Asian art. A member of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society since 2003, she participates in its conventions each year. Since 2021, she has also served as Asian Art Specialist at the Ader Nordman auction house in Paris.  She has exhibited at major European fairs in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, including TEFAF Showcase, and has authored numerous articles and catalogues on Chinese snuff bottles.