Silk embroidery on a waistcoat pocket: two monkeys with fruit among grasses, with a floral border above them.

NB! · Art · Museums · Ethnography · Humour

Eighteenth-century men's waistcoat with embroidered monkeys gathering fruit on the pocket

An eighteenth-century man's waistcoat, with monkeys gathering fruit embroidered on the pocket. And you talk of Gucci!

NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Mores

The sad and even chilling tomb of Alice, the 18-year-old wife of the English aristocrat Alexander Denton, with a swaddled infant at her feet: she died in childbirth

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

Rubens's Second Wife Walks a Child on a Lead

Rubens's second wife walks a child on a lead. One can see at once what a good mother she is; I would trust her with my own children

NB! · Art · Humour

It is not what you thought, but Odysseus deceiving the Cyclops

Wooden table with marquetry and gilt bronze, its lid open to show a mirror and side compartments holding tableware and small bottles.

NB! · Art · Observations · Mores

French Combined Table of the Late 18th Century for Breakfast and Make-up

I have fallen in love with this French combination table of the late eighteenth century, for breakfast and for make-up. The side compartments, lined with silk, are for cosmetics; the upper part lifts off and becomes a bed table

NB! · The East · Art · Museums · Mores

When you hear talk of sultan's tea, remember this gold set from the Ottoman Empire

NB! · Archive · Art · Books · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

The Genealogy of Henry II from the Nuremberg Chronicle: An Example of Naïve Graphic Art

The genealogy of Henry II from the Nuremberg Chronicle is an example of naïve graphic art. The generations are joined by some thick, unpleasant yellow umbilical cord, and I quite understand the fellow who is about to sever it

NB! · Art · Mores · Humour

Elaine of Corbenic, Daughter of the Fisher King, Seduces Lancelot

Elaine of Corbenic, daughter of the Fisher King, seduces Lancelot. Be careful in matters of the heart

NB! · Archive · Art · Monarchies · People

Louis-Philippe Supports Talleyrand

Louis-Philippe supports Talleyrand. As you can see, the old man is wearing orthopaedic footwear. The injury sustained at the age of 4 was to become emblematic of the life of a courtier who would come to be called the lame devil

An executioner with a sword stands by a prison window from which a headless body hangs, while a soldier bends over a platter with the saint's head.

NB! · Faith · Art · Museums

Giovanni di Paolo painted the beheading of John the Baptist in a cycle of 12 panels

The Imprisonment of John the Baptist, His Execution and the Presentation of the Saint's Head to King Herod. Giovanni di Paolo, 1455-1460. The whole life of the Baptist is depicted on 12 panels

Aristocracy · Art · Mores · Humour

The ladder of women's titles in the 18th century, from mistress to duchess

Girls of the eighteenth century chase after titles. At the very bottom of the ladder lies an ordinary mistress with her bosom bared, unable to rise; one rung above her is a baronet's wife, who has been overtaken by a baroness, above whom looms a viscountess, and higher

NB! · Archive · The East · Art · Monarchies · People