AN EXTREMELY RARE 'DOCTOR'S MODEL' SNUFF BOTTLE Qing Dynasty, 1820-1880 Naturalistically modelled to depict a reclining lady in an ailing state, dressed in a green tunic and red trousers, the right leg extending, with the foot modelled as the stopper, left leg crossed and the right hand raised to support the cheek. 10.6cm (4 1/8in) high. (2). Footnotes: 清 一八二零至一八八零年 仕女鼻烟壺 Provenance: A private collection, London Robert Hall, London A private collection, Edinburgh, acquired from the above 12th December 2013 (invoice) Published and Illustrated: The Heriot Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Volume I, Edinburgh, 2020, p.8, fig.78 Small figurative carvings known as 'medicine ladies' or 'doctor's models' are most commonly preserved as ivory carvings, based on the notion that when a doctor visited a woman she would reach through the curtains of her bed and touch the ivory figure to indicate the spot causing her trouble. They have been said to derive from Sino-Spanish ivory figures of the infant Jesus that would have been seen by Chinese craftsmen during the Ming dynasty. This snuff bottle group is known, see for example, M.Hughes, The Blair Bequest, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, nos.297-299. The present example is apparently unique, however, in depicting the lady in a state of significant physical ailment with lumps to her neck and chest, and swollen drooling lips. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing