CHINA, QING DYNASTY, CIRCA 1820

This figure depicts A-ke (or Aké, as both spellings appear in historical sources), a young Chinese boy born in 1804 with a partially formed parasitic twin protruding from his abdomen. In 1821, he was examined by the Philadelphia physician John Kearsley Mitchell in Canton, who subsequently published an article documenting his observations, including A-ke’s case.

Ceramic and wooden models of A-ke were produced in Canton for export abroad, where they were studied by physicians. This example belongs to a wider production of realistic clay "nodding-head" figures made in Canton for export and acquired as luxury items by European aristocrats and royalty. These figures incorporated carefully balanced internal counterweights mounted on wire mechanisms, allowing the head to nod gently when touched, as in the present example.

Today, only a handful of surviving examples are known: two are preserved in the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard University, Boston; one is in the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons, London; and another is held by the Royal Zeeland Scientific Society in the Netherlands. The present model is particularly notable, as it appears to be the only known example with a nodding head.