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'Erotic Art Africa' (1995), by John Kilaka (born in 1966) – Tanzanian painter, illustrator and writer.

An absolutely luscious, colourful painting of a man and woman having sex outdoors, in the missionary position. In the foreground, a black man and woman are having penetrative sex. There are verdant plants all around them. The painting is bursting with colours. She is arched over either a mound or a rock, but it’s abstracted and is a mound with tiny trees inside it - like they have been painted on. She is nude except for a white tube dress that has been pulled down, exposing her breasts, & up around her waist, exposing her vulva. Her head is thrown back in pleasure & she’s holding on to a phallic root with her right hand. He is totally bollock naked with his brightly coloured clothes are scattered around him. The figures are quite abstract in a Picasso kind of way. There is an amazing tree in the background & it’s leaves look like stars in the sky. There is a happy possum in the tree. This all looks so passionate & gorgeous - even the possum

“New Year’s Eve”, by Marion Greenwood (1940)

This is a lithograph of a young African-American couple cat a celebration for New Year's Eve. They are sitting closely together at a table, covered with a checkered tablecloth, with noise makers in hand. On the right side, a balloon floats in the background. It’s a very beautiful image that creates tension by the obvious references to New Year’s Eve and festivities and the utterly maungy expressions on both their faces. Honestly, the pair of them have a face like a pickled egg. Proper glum looking. There is no explanation for their melancholy, but I suppose we all get a little glum around this time from time to time.

December 17th is the #InternationalDayToEndViolenceAgainstSexWorkers. It’s marked all around the world by those fighting against stigma, hate, & for the right to be safe. You can follow along on social media with the hashtags #IDEVASW #IDEVASW22.

In European folklore, Krampus is a half-goat, half-demon figure who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved. Krampus erotica is thought to have started in Austria in the 1960s & proved very popular in Germany.

On this episode of #BetwixtTheSheets I am chinwagging with the spectacularly clever Tristan Hughes about the sex life of Alexander the Great.

A #Christmas #History Fact for You

“Christmas Gambols” by Thomas Rowlandson (1804)

A hand-coloured print of a drunken party taking place in a kitchen where four couples of domestic servants frolic with each other. In the centre of the print, a black footman holds-up a maid to kiss her underneath a bunch of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. A couple embrace on the floor in front of the hearth, another footman tips a chair back to kiss the woman who is sitting in it, and a further couple kiss in the background. A punch bowl and glasses are in the right foreground.

The word “Mistletoe” derives from the old English ‘tān’, meaning ‘twig’ & the Germanic base ‘mix’ (‘mistle’), which means ‘dung’.

It literally means ‘shitty twig’. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests this may be because ‘the plant is propagated in the excrement of birds’.

A quick festive fact from sex history for you

Saturnalia was a Roman festival held Dec 17-23. The poet Lucian (120-80CE) said it was a time of “drinking & being drunk, noise & games & dice, appointing of kings & feasting of slaves, singing naked, clapping of tremulous hands, & occasional ducking of corked faces in icy water”

“Saturnalia” (1783) by Antoine Callet, showing his interpretation of what the Saturnalia might have looked like. It’s a very crowded drinking scene in a Roman hall, complete with columns in the background. There are pissed up people all over the place. People are eating and drinking, dancing, and chasing each other about the place. Some are dressed but others aren’t. Everyone is looking quite disheveled. There is a dog eating in scraps off a plate, and a baby / toddler either eating or sucking it’s thumb, in the foreground of the painting. They add to general chaos of the image. The scene is supposed to be terrible debauched but in 2022, it could be an afternoon at Spoons

The Dangers of Self Pollution and What to do About it… Victorian Style.

Dr Young’s 19th Century Rectal Dilators, for medical use only … of course

Word(s) of the Day: “Knight of the Burning Pestle”

Knight of the Burning Pestle (1661). An apothecary, especially one who prescribes treatments for venereal disease.

I’ve been thinking about naughty nuns again and decided to turn it into a history article. Have at it!

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/naughty-nuns-our-obsession-with-sexualising-nuns-throughout-history-1973472

On this episode of #BetwixtTheSheets I am only flipping talking to @mattlodder about “Painted People”, his new book on the history of tattoos.
👇👇 🖋️ 🎨

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/betwixt-the-sheets-the-history-of-sex-scandal-society/id1612090432?i=1000586658475

From the depths of demented Victorian gynaecology, I bring you…

Word of the Day: “Twitter”

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