Sale 2514 - The Pride Sale, June 20, 2019

4 c [ Chinese Gay Pillow Book ] 6 double-page watercolor and ink illustrations of erotic gay couplings. Images measure 8 1 / 2 x6 1 / 2 inches, 21 1 / 2 x16 cm on India paper, mounted to 10x8 1 / 2 inch laid paper sheets, accordion-folded between patterned silk-covered boards (measuring 73 inches, 185 1 / 2 cm unfolded). Plates generally clean and colors bright, but for some faint, scattered dampstaining; silk binding threads along upper and lower edges heavily frayed. Late 19th-early 20th century. [3,000/4,000] a scarce and unusual example of a gay pillow book . A visual guide to the art of heterosexual lovemaking, pillow books were traditionally given by a Chinese mother to her daughter on her wedding day. As most were destroyed during the early days of Communist China, this uncommon work showing intimate positions of a young gay couple in various outdoor settings is unusually scarce.