18th century, England, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Stuart
Court account books in Europe provide a rich seam of information on the material care and remuneration paid to jesters. This entry, however, is the first I have seen which amounts to an IOU. The ‘late King William’ is clearly William III (better known as...
18th century, East Asia, gallery, historical figure, Japan, painting, primary source
This is a personal favourite among many depictions available of Dongfang Shuo 東方朔 (c. 160 – c. 93 BCE), although it was created nearly 2,000 years after he lived. By an 18th-19th century Japanese artist, Torei Hijikata 土方稲嶺 (1741-1807), it conveys the energy...
18th century, Europe, France, French, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
Folly, as Shakespeare taught us, can be used as a stalking horse, providing useful cover so that you can launch arrows of wit or criticism without too much risk of reprisal. A number of jesters ‘faked’ folly the better to enjoy the freedoms it could...
18th century, gallery, India, primary source
A curious drawing, from the late 18th century, of a named dwarf dancing in the presence of a pair of Indian soldiers (‘sepoys’ in the title of the sketch). I stumbled across this in the same search that yielded a 17th century Dutch painting of a dancing...
18th century, gallery, India, primary source
This sketch of an individual, done by an Anglo-Indian artist around 1790, has the intriguing title of ‘A fool named Gungarum’. At first I wondered if it was a portrait of a recognised or quasi-professional fool, but noting the similarity between the...
18th century, dramatic character, England, gallery, primary source
This arresting drawing, by the Swiss artist Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli) (1741-1825), depicts Edgar feigning madness and approaching King Lear whose madness is painfully real. Its clean, strong lines seem to echo Blake’s style. Also on Lear, see this...
18th century, English, Europe, Germany, historical figure, primary source, quotes
A rather damning reaction by Lady Montague (1689-1762) towards the dwarfs or dwarf-jesters she encountered in German courts. Note that while dismissing them as the ‘refuse of human nature’, she acknowledges that ‘these creatures’ were the only...
