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THB18th C. Chinese Reclining Doctor's Lady / Snuff Bottle
Lot 40a
About Seller
Artemis Fine Arts
686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States
Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more
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Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
$800 - $1,200
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About Auction
Live
By Artemis Fine Arts
Aug 22, 2025
Set Reminder
2025-08-22 10:00:00
2025-08-22 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : Indigenous Art - Ralph T. Coe Center, Santa Fe, NM
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/indigenous-art---ralph-t-coe-center-santa-fe-nm-20324
Featuring works of art from the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a non-profit focused on promoting Indigenous Arts globally. All proceeds from the sale of these items will support future grants to Rehoming Program participants. Artemis Fine Arts info@artemisfinearts.com
Featuring works of art from the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a non-profit focused on promoting Indigenous Arts globally. All proceeds from the sale of these items will support future grants to Rehoming Program participants. Artemis Fine Arts info@artemisfinearts.com
View Full Catalog (452)
- Lot Description
East Asia, China, Qing Dynasty, ca. 18th to 19th century CE. A rare and finely carved reclining ivory figure of a nude woman, known as a Doctor's Lady, ingeniously doubling as a snuff bottle. Her proper left foot once served as the stopper, now lost. She rests in a languid pose, head tilted gently to one side, propped upon her bent left arm, with the right arm drawn across her chest in a gesture at once modest and sensuous. The figure is nude save for a separately carved ivory bangle encircling her proper right arm. Her form is softly contoured, with delicately incised hair and subtle anatomical modeling, the surface retaining traces of the original polish and displaying a warm, aged patina. Doctor's Ladies were diagnostic tools used in China from as early as the Ming Dynasty and continuing in use into the Qing period. In an age when propriety forbade women from pointing directly to parts of their own bodies, these small figures allowed them to indicate areas of discomfort when consulting a male physician. Size: 3.5" L x 1.2" W (8.9 cm x 3 cm)
The woman would gesture to the relevant spot on the doll, sometimes from behind a modesty screen. Traditionally carved from ivory or jade, the figures were owned by physicians, though wealthy clients occasionally commissioned their own. While serving a practical medical function, their elegant nude forms also carried aesthetic and, in some cases, erotic undertones.
This example is further distinguished by its dual purpose as a snuff bottle, a rare combination that marries the intimate diagnostic tradition with the refined culture of snuff-taking in Qing society. Miniature, personal, and tactile, such objects reflect the intersection of daily life, social custom, and craftsmanship in late imperial China.
Exhibited: "into the woods, is perpetual youth…", May to July 2023 Hands-On Curatorial exhibition at the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
A similar ivory figure of a Doctor's Lady hammered $6000 (now equivalent to $9735.24) at Christie's New York on September 20th, 2005 (lot 53, Live Auction 1551 "Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art").
This is an ESA antique exempt piece of ivory and cannot be sold internationally or to anyone residing in the states of California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
Provenance: Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, acquired via descent in 2010; ex-private collection of Ralph T. Coe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA; ex-Taylor "Tad" Dale Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
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#196208Missing proper left foot that doubled as a stopper. Some stable fissures, flaking, and abrasions, commensurate with age. Good remaining detail with rich patina.Condition
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