AN EROTIC SOAPSTONE CARVING OF A RECLINING LADY

LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

AN EROTIC SOAPSTONE CARVING OF A RECLINING LADY
late 18th/19th century
Carved as a reclining nude with calm expression, the hair elaborately tied in a high chignon, wearing arm bangles and holding a flower in one hand, the other supporting the head and holding a scarf, leaning on a pile of books and lying on drapery partially covering the waist and legs, traces of black, red and green pigments
8¼ in. (21 cm.) wide

Lot Essay

It is interesting to compare this recumbent figure, which is almost certainly intended to be erotic, with the ivory recumbent ladies which have been known to generations of Western collectors as 'medicine figures' to assist a prudish Chinese doctor in his diagnosis, but may well also be erotically inspired.

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