#sexy but not fucking
Today’s piece of erotic art history comes to us from Peru and is dated between 550-700 CE. (1) In this scene, a Moche lady lays on her stomach as she tilts her head and reaches back to administer a hallucinogenic enema to herself.
Native Americans throughout South America utilized the practice of hallucinogenic mushroom enemas which is documented thoroughly in their own art. The practice would later be documented in the early accounts of Spanish explorers (2) nearly one thousand years after this piece was made.
It is open to interpretation as to if this is an actual piece of erotic art or if it is just rates an honorable mention, but there is no reason to assume this is a purely chaste enema. Due to enemas’ potential to feel pleasurable, there is an entire genre of enema eroticism in Western culture as well as a Western tradition of combining drug intake with sex acts.
Without borrowing from Western culture, however, another reason to consider the erotic potential of this piece is that the Moche were extremely prolific in their erotic pottery, and a significant portion of it is devoted to anal sex indicating that they were well aware of the erotic potential of anal play. Given that the original erotic significance (or lack there of) of the piece is not currently knowable, it is being included in the erotic art history project as a point of interest.
REFERENCE / FURTHER READING
(1) icollector: Online Collectables Auction: “Pre Columbian Moche Erotic Figure“
http://www.icollector.com/Pre-Columbian-Moche-Erotic-Figure_i15180357
(2) DRUG TIMES ARTICLE: “Psychedelic Enemas”
https://www.drugtimes.org/hallucinogens-culture/psychedelic-enemas.html
MAYAN MUSHROOM STONE ARTICLE: “Origin of a Mushroom Religion; Soma in the Americas”
^^ PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ARTICLE IS *AMAZING*!!! This article contains the most in depth ancient art history of drug use I have ever seen.
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Moche Culture”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moche_culture
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Today’s piece of erotic art history is an erotic bookplate which comes to us from 1970′s Denmark. Bookplates, also known as exlibris plates, are frequently custom designed pieces of art which are placed on the inside of the book as a way to denote ownership without marring the book by writing one’s name directly (an un-ornately) on it. (1) The art form began not long after the first printing presses were developed with the first dated example coming from 1470. Enthusiasm for the artistic genre reached a peek in the 1920′s, though high levels of interest remain with there currently being 40 exlibris society’s, today. (1)
This bookplate was commissioned by Jørgen Vils Pedersen who was an enthusiast of the genre and commissioned no less than 139 unique bookplates bearing his name in the 1970′s with erotic themes occurring on a semi-frequent basis. (2) In this scene, a mostly nude lady wearing only thigh high stockings and high heels stands on one leg as she exposes her pussy by raising the other in a high kick which. She holds her leg high in place using one arm to grasp her calf while her other hand remains on her hip. She holds in this position awaiting the cupid standing on the ground taking aim at her pussy with a phallus arrow to take his shot.
REFERENCE / FURTHER READING
(1) ART-EXLIBRIS: The Digital Exlibris Museum ARTICLE - “What is an Exlibris?“
http://art-exlibris.net/whatisexlibris
(2) ART-EXLIBRIS: The Digital Exlibris Museum ARTICLE - “Jorgen Vils Pedersen“
http://art-exlibris.net/person/733
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Today’s piece of erotic art history comes to us from circa 1743 Turkey and is ascribed to Abdullah Bukhari (1) who is also known for his other surviving erotic works. In this scene, a smiling male couple lies together on the floor in a “spooning” erotic embrace that may or may not involve penetration.
The two men are semi-clothed and are laying on their sides on a blanket or thin mattress on the ground with one behind the other. Both men have the fronts of their entaris (a customary outerwear robe of the era) open and are not wearing the pants that traditionally are worn beneath, leaving them relatively naked from the waists down as the bottom halves of their robes are arranged to the side.
The man who is the “big spoon” in this cuddle wraps his arm around the front of his partner’s chest from behind and slightly props himself up with an elbow as he smiles and regards his lover and appears to be opening his mouth to speak to him. It is impossible to tell from the image if penetration is meant to be taking place in this scene, but given the clues, it would appear that the “big spoon” is meant to be either admiring his partner in an intimate moment, checking in with his partner during mutually enjoyable sex, or asking his partner if he is ready to proceed. The man who is the “little spoon” in the cuddle lays with his arms behind his head, with both his smile as well as his erection expressing his pleasure in the situation.
REFERENCE / FURTHER READING
(1) SOTHEBY’S AUCTION: “Turkey, probably Istanbul, 18th century, Two erotic scenes, ascribed to Abdullah Bukhari, both signed and one dated 1156 AH/1743 AD“
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/erotic-passion-desire-l17322/lot.55.html
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Ottoman Clothing”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_clothing
HYPERALLERGIC ARTICLE: “From a Table of Phalluses to a Ménage à Trois Watercolor, Erotic Art Heads to Auction“
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Today’s piece of erotic art history comes to us from 1971 France and is by Pablo Picasso. Entitled “Nude” (1), the piece was created two years before the artist’s death in 1973. In this scene, a fully nude woman with a full bush sits upright and tilts her head to the side as she plays with her pussy lips with both hands.
NOTE - Upon studying the image more closely, I believe that she is probably intended to be pulling back her clitoral hood which is thereby revealing her clitoris, beneath.
REFERENCE / FURTHER READING
(1) HYPERALLERGIC ARTICLE: “From a Table of Phalluses to a Ménage à Trois Watercolor, Erotic Art Heads to Auction“
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Pablo Picasso”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso
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Today’s piece of erotic art history is a fresco from Pompeii dated between 50-79 CE. This character is frequently mis-identified as Priapus, a god commonly depicted with an giant undying raging erection, but this is actually the messenger god, Mercury (previously known as Hermes to the Greeks) as is denoted by several key identifying attributes in this picture including the wings on his feet, his purse, and his caduceus (1) (a signifying staff with two entwining snakes and a pair of wings at the top typically carried in Mercury / Hermes’ left hand (2)).
Though Priapus is well known for his phallic representations, Mercury / Hermes had a strong phallic association, as well, as is depicted in statues known as herma*. (3) Mercury / Hermes was the god of boundaries and herma were tall statues with flat rectanglular bases with a bust of Hermes at the top and male genitals carves into the otherwise featureless base at the appropriate height which marked borders in lieu of fences. In this scene, wearing only a loin cloth, Mercury walks at an ambitious pace with wings on his feet, his caduceus in his left hand, his pouch in his right hand, and is preceded by his large and improbably shaped erection which is both longer and larger than his arms.
* NOTE - There will be examples of herma uploaded into the database in the future (and may already be present if you are reading this article past its time of publication) which can be found using the #herma hashtag, found below.
REFERENCE / FURTHER READING
(1) WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Hermes”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes
(2) WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Caduceus”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus
(3) WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Herma”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herma
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Pompeii”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii
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