10th century, 7th century, 8th century, 9th century, Americas, ceramic, fooleum, Mexico, primary source
These two wonderful figurines, one of them in the form of a whistle no less, caught my eye and attention. In fact, we mustn’t be fooled – although they are described as ‘jester gods’, this is only a name given by archaeologists due to their...
6th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, fooleum, primary source
This endearing character leapt out of his glass case to grab my attention the day we spent 4-5 hours cramming in as much as we could of the Art Institute of Chicago on a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime visit. It was the custom in ancient China to bury clay figurines in...
2nd millennium BCE, Egypt, Egyptian, fooleum, primary source
The earliest reference I have found to a possible court jester concerns a dwarf at the Egyptian court in the 3rd millennium BCE. It appears that dwarfs and pygmies were respected in ancient Egypt, and there is even a dwarf god, Bes.  More to follow on this as I am...
