Chinese Doctor's Lady
21 January 2019
Description

Size: Lady L 5.25" W 1.5" Couch L 6.25" W 1.75 Together H 1.75" not sure if it is bone or ivory. It is yellowing from age which ivory does, and I looked at the the item from a 90 degree angle and see lines crossing. There is an old newspaper article that came with this items explaining that this piece served as a doctors desk model. The patient would point to and show the doctor the origin of pain.

Provenance

My step-grandfather was a collector of Asian items for over 60 years.

Acquired from
Inherited
For sale
Yes
Answered within 1 day
By Klaus
Jan 23, 00:42 UTC
Fair Market Value
$250 - $500 USD
Insurance Value $0 USD
What does this mean?

Thank you for submitting your item for appraisal. This appears to be a 20th century carved ivory so called "doctors lady". Originally such figurines were - just as you suggested - used to point to parts of the body, the doctor would then prescribe medicine accordingly. The figurine in your possessions shows Schreger lines, which indicate that it is ivory indeed. Due to the current ivory trade ban, it is rather difficult to sell ivory. Each country or state enforces different laws. You will have to get a CITES document, which should be possibly if you can provide a receipt that proves that the ivory was legally acquired and removed from the wild prior to the listing of the African elephant under CITES (February 26, 1976).
The estimate is based on similar items sold at auction. There is no measurement for the sentimental value you might attach to the item.

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