Page 22 - November 2016 London Bonhams asian Art

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THREE IVORY ‘DOCTOR’S MODELS’ A GROUP OF FOUR IVORY ‘DOCTOR’S MODELS’
18th/19th century 18th/19th century
Each modelled reclining in a suggestive pose, the head resting upon Each similarly modelled reclining with the head supported on one
the hooked arm, the other arm placed across the body, one leg hooked arm, the other held across the body, one leg pulled over the
crossed over the other towards the front, the hair arranged in elaborate other; one modelled in a more erotic pose, three with wood stands.
chignons, some coloured pigments remaining, one with wood stand. The largest 11.5cm (4.1/2in) high. (7).
The largest 15.2cm (6in) long. (4).
£800 - 1,200
£800 - 1,200 CNY6,900 - 10,000 HK$8,000 - 12,000
CNY6,900 - 10,000 HK$8,000 - 12,000
Provenance
Provenance A Uruguayan Private Collection.
A Uruguayan Private Collection.
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‘Doctor’s models’ were popularly produced in China from the Ming A GROUP OF FIVE IVORY FIGURES
Dynasty until the nineteenth century. They were once thought to be a Ming Dynasty to 17th century
medical aid, used by a Chinese doctor to locate his female patients’ Comprising: one modelled as a bearded sage, the head turned slightly
source of pain. to the right, the robes incised with a badge of rank; another of a
standing gentleman, his hands held behind his back, the folds of the
It has been suggested that these figures may also be influenced by sleeves deeply carved; and three small figures modelled as a dancing
the prototypes of ivory carvings of the sleeping infant Christ, originally boy, a scholar holding a book and a lady holding a headdress, three
imported into the Philippines from Goa. They were then adapted to wood stands and one ivory stand.
reclining female figures, to be used as erotic toys. It is recorded by the The largest 13cm (5.1/8in) high. (9).
Ming scholar Shen Defu (1578-1642) that ivory carvers in Fujian ‘made
small figures of pairs in sexual congress which were of high artistic £1,000 - 1,500
quality’. Explicit erotic ivories were collected by Europeans in China. CNY8,600 - 13,000 HK$10,000 - 15,000
See Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, Oriental Ceramic
Society, 1984, pp.41-43. Provenance
A Uruguayan Private Collection.

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