A Chinese ivory box and cover carved as a melon with two beetles perched on the leafy stalk, opening to reveal a stained erotic carving in relief in each half, one of two figures on a bed with an attendant, the other a couple in a garden watching two dogs copulate, with a grooved ivory divider incised with birds in flight above rockwork and plants (age cracks, old repairs) -- 5½in.long.

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A Chinese ivory box and cover carved as a melon with two beetles perched on the leafy stalk, opening to reveal a stained erotic carving in relief in each half, one of two figures on a bed with an attendant, the other a couple in a garden watching two dogs copulate, with a grooved ivory divider incised with birds in flight above rockwork and plants (age cracks, old repairs) -- 5½in.long.
See Colour Plate 5.

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