Du Kai's Ivory False Teeth

Duquet’s ivory dentures are a custom-made set of hinged display teeth that temporarily recasts his toothless appearance as that of a gentleman. They improve his looks but cannot be used for chewing, and their discomfort and fragility make the transformation as material as it is social: the teeth help him perform respectability without repairing the underlying loss.

Commission and Gift

Captain Verdwijnen tells Duquet that an ivory carver in Guangzhou can make teeth fitted to his jaws. The carver is expensive, but Verdwijnen presents the purchase as worthwhile and points out that the Hong merchant assigned to him could arrange it, while also expressing interest in Duquet’s furs. Duquet offers him a fine lynx pelt, saying it had been intended for the emperor of China but that he is giving it to the captain instead. The proposed exchange places the dentures within the same world of luxury goods, commercial relationships, and calculated gifts as the furs.

Making and Use

The carver takes a wax mold of Duquet’s toothless jaws, and the completed set arrives only after several months. Its large white teeth are attached to plates and hinged with fine gold wires, allowing Duquet to insert them over his gums. Looking at himself in a glass, he finds that they undeniably improve his appearance, though they feel monstrous and uncomfortable. Their purpose is display rather than eating: the carver instructs him to clean them daily with a brush and white cloth and warns that sunlight will yellow the ivory over time. He agrees to have a spare pair made, while dismissing ceramic as a possible alternative because it might break into shards.

Appearance and Social Performance

The dentures become part of a larger transformation when Duquet dons blue garments and an expensive, heavy auburn wig with long ringlets. With the ivory flashing in his mouth, he appears to be a gentleman—or, in François Toppunt’s less admiring description, an almost-gentleman. The set does not simply conceal missing teeth: it helps Duquet stage a status his origins and circumstances do not automatically grant. Its success is conditional, however, on appearance; it is an uncomfortable ornament, not a restoration of ordinary bodily function.

Narrative Significance

The dentures make Duquet’s self-fashioning tangible. Their gold hinges, whiteness, and carefully maintained surface furnish the visible signs of refinement he seeks, while their monstrous feel and inability to chew expose the gap between the gentlemanly image and the body beneath it. They also echo his larger appetite for acquisition: after imagining himself in the role of a powerful animal whose tracks leave a village staring, he thinks he will claim whole forests. The teeth thus belong to a pattern in which outward transformation and possession promise access to power, even as the object remains artificial, costly, and physically intrusive.