Golly Gosh, She’s Hot - this is a rare 1930s European porcelain kinetic sculpture, which has a detachable left leg that can be used as a smoking pipe. The empty seat next to her would be where one placed the tobacco or herb of choice to pack into the pipe.
Descended from a much older Chinese and European tradition of risqué articulated nodding figures, these Naughty Nodders were novelty items designed for storing spices, trinkets or smoking paraphernalia. They are being rediscovered today as examples of mid-century kitsch, pin-up culture and postwar ceramic design. Most commonly found examples are Japanese export ashtrays mass produced during the late 1940s and 1950s post war colonial era.
