14K yellow gold Tiffany & Company Missions pin for the Presbyterian Church. The pin features several Chinese characters as well as a dragon figure to the top edge and blue enamel center. The pin is marked "Tiffany & Co", "14K", "1925", together with 3 Chinese characters, en verso. The pin is 1" x 3/4" in size and has a weight of 9.12 grams. Note: Descended through the Rawlings family and originally collected by Sara Emily Perkins (1892 – 1969) who was born in Tennville, GA. Orphaned at an early age, Sara lived with her unmarried sister Gertrude, a public health nurse in Charleston. She studied at Bessie Tift College and Washington College of Music. In 1922 she sailed for China to begin a course in nursing at the Peking Union Medical College; she graduated with an RN equivalency in 1925. In 1926 Perkins applied to the Board of Foreign Missions (PCUSA). She was assigned to the Douw Hospital in Peiping. She served that hospital for nearly twenty years, eventually becoming Superintendent of Nurses. She was imprisoned by the invading Japanese for six months in 1942-43. Once freed, she resumed her hospital work. In 1951 she was arrested and imprisoned by the Chinese communists. She was freed in 1955 and retired from missionary service two years later. After Sara died, Gertrude lived with Mary Rawlings (1897-1996), aunt to the consignor (https://www.history.pcusa.org/collections/research-tools/guides-archival-collections/rg-352 and Perkins autobiography, Red China Prisoner).

PROVENANCE: The Collection of Dr. Joe Newsom Rawlings, Davisboro, Georgia. Additional provenance information in description.

CONDITION: Missing gemstone below dragon figure, otherwise overall good condition.