I think the bench in Tipping the Velvet is more symbolic of a deceased castrati rather than for the purposed depicted…

What's In Kay's Mind - Connecting The Dots: Is it the eunuch, whose frustrated desires cannot be fulfilled as procreator rather than penis envy?

I am not promoting the sale of this mask but this is the style to which I refer…the imagery in the scenes in Tipping the Velvet can be taken apart I think to reveal the relationship between a man and his male concubine, “Story of O”.